


Hammerlocke University

by fluteninja38



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Asexuality, Castles, Celebrities, College, Drama, Friendship, Gossip, Implied Sexual Content, Jealousy, Love Triangles, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mistakes, Open Relationships, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Pokemon Battles, Reputations, Rivalry, Roommates, Social Media, University, Worldbuilding, YES EVERYONE IS AN ADULT., mentioned raihan/leon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:47:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22297312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluteninja38/pseuds/fluteninja38
Summary: After the events of Sword and Shield, Galar's newest young heroes take on their greatest challenge yet - higher education and all the university experience entails. New friendships form, social media craziness ensues, and being the Pokémon Champion while trying to enjoy college is quite the task. First chapter has more lovely exposition.Ages for the sake of story clarity are: Gloria, Hop, Bede, Marnie: 19/20, Leon, Raihan, Sonia, Piers: 22/23-ish.
Relationships: Beet | Bede/Yuuri | Gloria, Kibana | Raihan/Yuuri | Gloria
Comments: 27
Kudos: 83





	1. Towering Goals

It was a typical autumn Wednesday for the students of Hammerlocke University. The campus, which took up a decent portion of Hammerlocke Castle and its surrounding grounds, was swarming with students who shared the common goal of studying Pokémon.

Most of the University’s students attend on some sort of scholarship or endorsement; attending post-secondary school in the world of Pokémon tends to be a bit of a niche thing to do. A majority of Galar’s careers don’t require a specialized degree, but certain citizens use college to gain a greater knowledge of their lives’ pursuits.

In Galar, there are three post-secondary education options for those who aspire to be out of the ordinary. In the town of Motostoke, there is a trade school that specializes in welding. Out west in the fantastical village of Ballonlea is a school specializing in the arts, known for its theatre program. And in the heart of Galar lies Hammerlocke University.

The entirety of Galar has its eyes on HU’s students in this current era. The champion of the region, Gloria, has decided to attend the school for a Battle Technician degree, which will give her greater insight on competitive battling all over the Pokémon world. The region’s newest up-and-coming professor, Hop, who made it to the semifinals of the latest gym challenge, is starting with a Biology degree. He’s planning on earning his doctorate before becoming a full-fledged Pokémon Professor. Galar’s newest gym leaders, Marnie of Spikemuth and Bede of Ballonlea are also students in the class of 2023, majoring in Battle Techniques and Pokémon Coordination, respectively. Bede’s degree program is also well-renowned at his hometown’s college, and many Galarians wonder why he decided to attend the region’s flagship school instead of staying closer to his gym.

Luckily for the Champion and gym leaders attending HU, the gym challenge takes place during the summer, so their league duties are fairly light during the school year. During the term however, Marnie lets her brother and former gym leader Piers represent her at meetings, but Bede insists on being at each one even if it means flaking on assignments. Champion Gloria makes sure to attend all local and national meetings, but she has assigned Gym Leader Raihan to represent her internationally each year in April due to the final exams schedule.

Alright, back to Wednesday.

Gloria sat at the back of the lecture hall, which was unusual for the champion. The professor was droning on about the science behind type matchups, which was old news, but she’d still usually be paying attention.

She held her Rotom phone behind the notebook which sat in her lap, at least feigning attention to the material. Gloria had received a text right before class started that she just couldn’t ignore.

_Leon: I got everything squared away early, thanks to you. the tower is gonna b opening this weekend. Friday night, be there._

The Battle Tower. After being defeated in Gloria’s championship match, Leon had been working on a project unknown to most of Galar. He’d wanted to be a Battle Technician like so many of the world’s great trainers, but his pride prevented him from enrolling at HU at the same time as his younger brother Hop. So instead Leon took it upon himself to rebuild the gaudy Rose Tower into a Battle Facility like the ones he’d participated in during winter residencies in Hoenn and Sinnoh.

Gloria, being ahead of the game in her degree program and well-traveled due to her very worldly family, was Leon’s sole advisor during the project. She hadn’t told Hop or even her roommate Marnie about the Tower, and they wouldn’t know anything about it until it was formally announced.

_Gloria: sweet. are the mints really going to be here in time for opening weekend?_

_Leon: yep, that’s what I was waiting on. The first shipment came in this morning. i was worried about the adamant and jolly supply, but I paid more for expd. shipping. thx again for suggesting those, m8._

_Gloria: yea np. Do u know when there’ll be a formal news announcement?_

_Leon: I just pulled up to tha news station fr fr_

_Gloria: oh this is gonna be huge here on campus. Thanks again for tha heads up, im gonna get some train tickets for me n hop and book a room b4 the news goes live_

_Leon: cant wait to see you guys!!!_

For the rest of the class period, Gloria sought out two-way train tickets to Wyndon and back for Friday afternoon through Sunday morning and booked the Champion Suite at the newly-remodeled Bluebelleon Inn not too far from the center of the capital city. _Hop is gonna flip._

After daydreaming about which three of her ace Pokémon she’d want to showcase that weekend, class dismissed for the day. Gloria slipped her phone into the front pocket of her bag and quickly shoved the notebook she didn’t end up using into the bigger one. She hadn’t even gotten out a pencil for class.

Gloria exited the lecture hall through the doors at the top of the stairs and leaned against one of the walls in the hallway outside, tying her hair up into a high ponytail while her chocolate bangs still curtained her eyebrows.

“Hey, Glor! What in blazes are ya doin’ here, I didn’t see ya durin’ class!”

The Champion turned toward the voice calling to her, adjusting the straps of her oversized bookbag and averting her gaze. _My eyes will give away the surprise, she can read me like a book!_

“Oi Marnie, you startled me. I was at the back of the hall, had some emails to catch up on. Didn’t think the prof would take too kindly to me bein’ on my phone.”

“Hm. Fair.” Gloria and Marnie started off in the direction of the girls’ dormitories as their classes for the day had ended. The curtains had been parted to reveal the castle’s stained-glass windows that day, which bathed the stony hallways in a colorful sunlight. “I think Raihan’s declared it a Sunny Day today. It’s been overcast for so long; don’t think he could take it anymore.”

“I couldn’t either. Goin’ outside was just like staying in, but worse.” Gloria brushed a strand of hair out of her face distractedly, something suddenly feeling off about the conversation.

“You feeling alright?” Marnie was casting a sidelong glance at her roommate, noticing the shift in Gloria’s tone. “You’re lookin’ a little flushed.”

“Oh. I’m fine, I think I might be dehydrated.” Gloria quickly reached for her water bottle that was a permanent fixture in her bag’s side pocket and downed the remainder of the morning’s metallic-tasting water. The drink cleared her thoughts enough for Gloria to realize why she’d suddenly acted strangely.

_That name…_

Suddenly, a familiar buzz sounded from Marnie’s handbag. “Oh, there’s my phone.” She retrieved the device and answered it as the two girls reached the spiral staircase heading for home.

“Oh, hi Hop… Gloria? I think her phone’s on silent. She was texting Raihan during class.”

Gloria’s face burned, but she couldn’t quite put a finger on how that comment made her feel. “I was _not.”_ She hissed.

“Is tha’ so? We’re heading back to our dorm, I’ll see if I can find the livestream…Thanks mate, I’ll talk to ya later.” Marnie hung up just as the girls reached the top of the stairs. “Hop says Leon’s on the news.”

“Hope it’s not about him getting lost in the Wild Area and having to call a rescue squad again.”

“Nah, it’s actually something that Hop says came out of left field for him-”

“Huh? Hop watches baseball? Didn’t know he cared for Unovan sports.”

“I think so, why?”

“No matter. And hey, can ya stop makin’ up stories about me? Didn’t appreciate that Raihan comment.”

“Please, Glor. I saw your location on Chatter last weekend-”

“I have GOT to turn that off. Also, it was Champion business, I’m trying to arrange an exhibition match for Raihan and someone important from Johto before the summit in April.”

“Yeah, but did you have to go to his HOUSE after dinner?”

“…That was all him, not me.” Gloria hid her face as she retrieved her room key from the outer pocket of her bookbag, unlocked their shared room’s door and threw her jacket and bag onto her bed. “Turn on the news, wouldja?”

“Aight, aight.” Marnie plopped down at her desk and took out her laptop, quickly booting it up and navigating to ChuTube. Gloria pulled her chair up to her roommate’s desk, trying to hide her excitement of what she knew was to come. Luckily for her, Marnie was fixated on the screen. The gym leader’s Morpeko popped out of its Poké ball which was situated on the desk and made itself comfortable in Marnie’s lap.

Before the newscast that was #1 on trending fully loaded, Marnie clicked and dragged the scroll bar to the beginning.

“Good afternoon, this is the October 9th edition of Battle Report! I’m Finn Finnegan and I’m here with former Champion Leon from Postwick, who is here to share some exciting news with Galar’s trainers.”

Gloria winced. “Former Champion” seemed like a bit of a slap in the face. When the camera panned over to Leon, however, the former Champion was all smiles.

And his OUTFIT… oh boy. _Why does he look like a history reenactor?_

“Hello, Galar! It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to address you all like this, but pretty soon you’ll be seing a lot more of the Charizard Master!”

“Oh brother, is that what he’s calling himself now?”

“MARNIE, SHUSH!”

“You see, this weekend a whole new place to battle will be opening in the fair city of Wyndon! I’ve been working on this project with a colleague of mine-”

Gloria cringed. _That’s gonna get people talking and theorizing. I don’t want to take even more credit from him…_

“…ever since this summer’s Champion Match. I welcome the trainers of Galar to… THE BATTLE TOWER!” The camera panned to the doors of the former Rose tower, now framed by cheery bluebells, one of Leon’s favorite plants.

“MATE, WHAT?!” Marnie’s jaw dropped at the announcement. It was unlike anything the region had ever seen, and those studying to be Battle Technicians in Galar knew what this meant for them. “IS THIS SERIOUSLY…?” Morpeko lifted its head, clearly startled at its trainers raised voice.

“YEAH, WE’RE GETTING A FRONTIER FACILITY WITH WORLDS RULES!” At Gloria’s equally excited shout, Morpeko hopped off Marnie’s lap and hid under her desk.

“AMAZIN’- wait, how do you know for sure?”

The livestream continued and took Marnie’s attention away from Gloria’s suspicious knowledge.

“…frontier battle system. I’m looking forward to seeing Galar’s best here in Wyndon starting this FRIDAY NIGHT for season one of the Battle Tower!” The stream cut off just as it looked like Leon was about to strike a Charizard pose, and Gloria stifled a snort. Marnie turned her chair to face Gloria, eyes wide and gleaming.

“Mate, this is BONKERS! You HAVE to go this weekend.”

“Um… I already got train tickets…”

“YES- wait, how did YOU know about this?”

“Uh…” _Telling Marnie wouldn’t hurt. But I have to tell Hop about the tickets right now before he buys his own!_ Gloria pushed her chair back to her own desk and reached for the bag she’d thrown onto her bed, retrieving her Rotom phone. “Y’know how Leon said he’d been working with a colleague?” she hurriedly opened her messages log with Hop.

“…Tha’ was YOU?! You’re KIDDING. Gloria, I swear you don’t even have to get this degree. You’re already doing a Technician’s work.”

“Leon asked me because we’re friends. And I taught him about Nature Mints. Didn’t know those existed before coming here.”

“You can figure out about those on the internet.”

“That’s beside the point. It was just a connection.” Gloria finished sending her message to Hop. “Hop and I are going up to Wyndon for opening weekend-”

“YOU TOLD HOP?! Why not me?”

“Hold on, I didn’t tell Hop. I got our tickets in advance because I knew he’d want to come with me and you’re going to be in Spikemuth this weekend.”

“Blast. How do you know my schedule better than I do?”

“Just Champion things.”

“It’s only been three months, Glor.”

“Guess it’s just me, then.”


	2. Dragon's Den

_Thursday Night_

Gloria stood on the far end of the indoor field at Hammerlocke Stadium, taking in the strange atmosphere of the empty arena. It was too early in the semester for students to be able to rent out the space, but after the announcement of the Battle Tower the previous day, the Stadium’s gym leader let Gloria use it to train that evening. The cavernous room seemed to have a stony breeze flowing through it and before reaching for a Poké ball, Gloria pulled her hair into a high ponytail.

Gym Leader Raihan had agreed to Gloria’s request upon ensuring he’d be able to battle her upcoming lineup in a practice match or two. The two elite trainers now stood opposing each other, attempting to emulate the Tower rules.

“No medicines or revives,” Gloria had lectured before their training. “And just for tonight, no Dynamax.”

“Aww, Glor, that takes all the fun outta it.”

“I think it makes it more fun.”

Hop and Marnie knew of their friend’s whereabouts that evening but were excluded on purpose. Gloria didn’t want either of them copying her strategies.

“Splat, let’s get ‘em!” Gloria threw out a standard Poké ball and out popped a terrifying-looking fish creature that stood upright on two legs.

“YOU HAVE A DRACOVISH?!” Raihan’s exclamation echoed throughout the stadium, knocking Gloria off guard. The Pokémon didn’t seem to mind.

“Yeah, he’s a real ace! Get on with it, now!”

“Two can play at that game, aye? Zolt!” The gym leader brought out a similarly-strange looking dragon, a Dracozolt.

“When’dya manage to get that one?” Gloria was more than surprised to see another Galar fossil being used in battle.

“Not too long ago. He’s a cool lil’ guy!”

“Indeed ‘e is. Splat, Fishious Rend!”

“Wait woah WOAH fishiest WHAT?!”

The Dracozolt was knocked against one of the walls that surrounded the pitch, Splat’s signature move dealing more than half of Zolt’s HP in damage. The display screens in the stadium showed this as a graphic, which Gloria had convinced Raihan to set up as if they were in a real match.

“What was THAT?!”

“That was my friend Splat, ain’t he lovely?”

“Tell me about ‘im later. Zolt, hit ‘em with Bolt Beak!”

Splat’s surprisingly hefty defenses only took about a quarter of its HP in damage, despite the move being relatively effective. Zolt however recoiled harshly after barraging its opponent with a lightning-encased peck attack, its HP now near zero.

“WHAT KINDA… BOLT BEAK DOESN’T HAVE RECOIL!” Raihan didn’t flinch as his outraged shouting reverberated through the air, but even in such a huge space Gloria wished she’d brought earplugs.

“All hail the Rocky Helmet…” she whispered to herself. It seemed that Raihan hadn’t noticed the item Splat was equipped with. Perhaps he’d assumed it was part of the Dracovish’s biology. Maybe his constant sandstorm battles were blinding him. Gloria remembered that Raihan never decided to go for any sort of degree despite basically living on the campus of HU. He preferred to learn about Pokémon “in the field”, but sometimes it was obvious he wasn’t a Technician.

Raihan and Gloria spent a good hour or so in 3-on-3 matches, each trainer facing significant troubles with the new rules and limits. Gloria won the series 4-2, but Raihan took any kind of win against the Champion as a real victory. By the end of their matches, Raihan had thrown off his signature hoodie and Gloria had equipped a headband to keep her bangs off her perspiring forehead. It was getting late, and each of them had responsibilities to attend to the next day.

“You’re not heading up to Wyndon tomorrow, are ya?” Gloria asked Raihan as the two walked towards the south locker room together.

“Nah. I got lots to do ‘round here, we’re startin’ to rent the stadium out next month.”

“I see,” but the only thing Gloria could see right now was the outline of Raihan’s abs through his dragon uniform, which was closer to her eye-level than his face. Stupid thoughts.

“Say hi to Leon for me though, would ya?” Raihan asked nonchalantly as the two of them exited the pitch.

“Huh? I thought you guys hung out.” Gloria kept up their conversation whilst heading to retrieve her jacket and backpack from the locker she’d been using and made the mistake of glancing towards Raihan. He’d thrown off the headband keeping his hair back as well as his uniform shirt and was rifling around in a locker full of random athletic gear to find who knows what. Gloria wondered how the gym leader stayed in such amazing shape when 75% of what he ate was pizza and flamin’ hot Cheetos.

_I act like I’ve never seen him like this before, what the hell. Chill._

“Yeah, well, not recently. Guy’s been too busy for anyone as of late.” Raihan’s reply was quieter than his usual banter. He turned and noticed the Champion facing away from him, mindlessly scrolling through Chatter on her Rotom phone whilst sitting on a bench. He stopped looking for the hoodie he wanted and threw back on the sweatshirt he’d been wearing earlier.

“He’s been busy with the Battle Tower, ya dolt. I haven’t heard from him much either.” Gloria replied halfheartedly. _That was a blatant lie,_ she thought.

Raihan slammed his locker door shut and made his way over to Gloria, sitting down beside but not crowding her.

“…Lee always said after he lost the Champion title, he’d wanted to do something like this. He told me about the whole Frontier thing he did back in Sinnoh and he wanted me to be a part of it.”

Gloria’s heart sunk. _Why does being Champion mean crushing everyone’s dreams? Leon should have asked Raihan to help him with all this, not me!_ She mindlessly let her hair out of its ponytail, further obscuring her face.

“Well, knowing Leon, he’s always had a bit of an independent streak…” Gloria hoped she could put her friend at ease.

“Not like this. He’s not one to push his friends away, Glor. Especially me, Sonia, Piers… we only here from the guy once a week if we’re lucky.”

Gloria couldn’t say anything to help. The truth would only make things worse.

Raihan suddenly moved closer to Gloria on the bench, forgetting his earlier concern for personal space. “Hey.”

“Er… what?”

“Wanna come over tonight?”

Gloria’s face and neck grew hot and she kept her gaze down, checking the time on her phone.

“Mate, it’s after ten. I have class tomorrow.”

“…What time do your classes start? You can spend the night, y’know.”

 _I’m not doing this again._ Gloria thought and stood up, facing the gym leader with her embarrassingly red complexion.

“Raihan, I’m not looking for a relationship right now. I told you that already.”

Raihan suddenly sat up from his slouched posture, nearly at eye-level with the Champion. Their height difference was laughable.

“I’m not either. That doesn’t mean anything.” Raihan capped his sentence with a flirty smile, his intriguingly sharp canines glinting in the fluorescent light. His hair was down, a rare sight, and some very conflicted memories resurfaced in the Champion’s thoughts.

Gloria resisted the urge to punch him, but she didn’t want to hurt their friendship. Or her hand. _You’re a right bastard ye are, though._

“Well, it doesn’t mean anything to _you._ ” Gloria decided to soften her tone after Raihan’s eyes flickered with some unknown emotion. “I gotta go. I’ll tell Leon you’re thinking of him.” She hoisted her bag over one shoulder and hurried out of the locker room, not daring to look back.


	3. Electric Terrain

_Friday, Day of the Battle Tower Opening Ceremony_

Gloria could hardly contain herself throughout the day’s classes. After getting back to her dorm the previous night, trying to push the image of a shirtless Raihan out of her thoughts, she’d spent a good hour packing and planning for the weekend’s events. She intended to debut a new uniform for her first series of battles that evening, and even though Tower battles weren’t public, there would certainly be fans and reporters hanging out in and around the building. Gloria had also thought long and hard about what to wear during any possible matchup with Leon, as she knew she couldn’t be outshone by her predecessor.

_He may look like he’s from the 18 th century, but the public eats that stuff up!_

Between class periods, Gloria had been stopped by fellow trainers in the hallway to talk about the Battle Tower. She couldn’t let anyone know she’d helped with it, since she wanted all the credit to go to Leon, but it was nice being able to finally talk about the Tower with her classmates. It was a relief to not have to keep it a secret anymore.

For the first month or so of classes, Gloria had become accustomed to receiving huge amounts of attention from nearly everyone on campus. All of her classmates were enamored with the idea of befriending the Champion, and it felt nice to be popular for once. But Gloria kept her main circle of friends small and knew that she had a reputation to keep up as someone so revered in the Galar region. It was terrifying at times, but being asked for an autograph every few days was certainly entertaining.

Gloria’s last class of the day, Water Bio 1, was fairly empty that afternoon. She and Hop and Marnie sat in a row closer to the front of the lecture hall than usual, trying to pay attention before school was out for the weekend.

The two girls found it difficult to focus as Hop continuously bounced his knee, which could be felt through the floor.

“Hey man, can you knock that off?” Marnie whispered, trying not to sound too bothered. “It’s a bit distractin’.”

“Oh, sorry!” Hop replied, his sudden loudness causing the lecturer to cast the students a warning glance. Hop then continued, whispering, “I’m just so hype for this weekend, it’s hard to sit still.”

“Honestly, same,” Gloria assured. “Just twenty more minutes!” she must have spoken a bit too loudly, as one of the students seated in the row in front of the three turned halfway to face her. _Bede…_

“Can you keep it down, please?” He whispered harshly, yet the fairy-type gym leader’s eyes were more sympathetic than anything. “Some of us are trying to learn.” Bede then quickly turned back around to pay attention to the lecture, mumbling something to the girl next to him.

“He’s still as sour as ever,” Hop grumbled, trying to keep his voice down. “He’s got everything he could ever want and still finds something to complain about.”

“He’s got a point, Hop,” Marnie whispered, jotting something down in her notebook. At least someone had been paying attention to that last PowerPoint slide. “Just shut up, you two. You’ll have the whole weekend to gab.”

The rest of the class period dragged by as Hop and Gloria painstakingly took notes on the biology of the Wailord family. It would’ve been interesting stuff any other day, but there was an atmosphere of untempered excitement amongst the trainers of Galar that Friday.

The three friends made no haste packing up their materials and heading out of the lecture hall. It was surprising how empty the classroom was that day; Water Bio 1 was taken by nearly every first-year at the University. It seemed many students had already left for the weekend, likely on their way to Wyndon for the festivities.

Gloria led the way up the stairs and out into the hallway only to be met with a crowd of her classmates’ face lighting up when they saw her. Hop and Marnie followed close behind, seeming a bit confused at the hubbub.

“Good luck at the Battle Tower, Gloria!” a first-year named Reese exclaimed, smiling at the front of a group of excited trainers.

“You too, Hop!” another girl added, waving at the former gym challengers.

Gloria and Hop looked at each other in surprise, then back at their classmates.

“Uh… thanks, everyone!” Hop addressed them, waving at his fans. “We’ll tell you all about it when we get back.”

“I’ll be heading up to Wyndon next weekend!” Marnie declared and stepped out from behind her friends, much to the surprise of her classmates.

“Oh wow, that’s so cool!” someone shouted.

The three friends spent a decent amount of time chatting up their classmates, Gloria checking her phone every few minutes to ensure she and Hop had enough time to get to the train station. She was about to retrieve her friend from a gaggle of excited classmates when someone unexpected made himself present to her.

“Hey, you.” Gloria looked up slightly as Bede somehow appeared out of the crowd before her. Most of the trainers were talking with Hop at the moment so she hadn’t been paying attention.

“Oh, hi, Bede.” The Champion wanted to choose her words carefully. She didn’t have the greatest past with the Ballonlea gym leader and knew he was easy to set off.

“Er… good luck this weekend.” Bede’s violet eyes were shifty as he tried to find the right words. “I’ve heard this is the kind of battling you’re into, and I- uh, we wanna hear about it when you get back.”

Gloria forced herself to not give away her surprise at Bede’s comment. He was usually so distant from the rest of the year’s gym challengers and his sudden interest in what the Champion was up to seemed completely out of the blue.

“Yeah, I’m pretty excited about it.” Gloria willed herself to make eye contact, trying to read the gym leader’s unfamiliar expression. “I was thinking after this weekend I could-”

“Glor! We’re leaving!” Hop’s voice snapped Gloria out of the fog clouding her thoughts during the awkward encounter. She looked over Bede’s shoulder to see Hop racing towards her, quickly throwing himself between the Champion and the gym leader.

“Uh…” Bede suddenly looked exceedingly flustered at Hop’s interruption.

“Hop, we still have an hour ‘til we have to be at the station.” Gloria assured her friend as she cast an apologetic glance at Bede.

“I know, but I’ve gotta finish packing. You can come with me.” Hop quickly took Gloria by the arm and waved goodbye to Marnie, who was busy conversing with the now thinning crowd of trainers. He made sure to give Bede a warning look, but the fairy-type trainer simply blinked in confusion.

Gloria pulled her arm free of Hop’s grasp as he walked speedily in the direction of the boys’ dormitories, straining to keep up with her taller friend.

“That was awfully rude of you back there,” she grumbled, suddenly very embarrassed by Hop’s actions.

“You should have seen how uncomfortable you looked, Glor. I dunno what that guy was saying to you but I could tell you wanted out of it.”

“…Huh? Oh, Bede? We were just talking about the Battle Tower. I’m just not used to talking to him, I guess. Especially after the gym challenge.” Gloria thought back to how absolutely, positively bratty Bede had acted towards the other challengers just a few months prior.

“He probably just wants your strategies.” Hop scoffed as the two trainers arrived at the elevator at the end of the hallway. He was repeatedly pressing the “up” button on the wall, not seeming to realize it only needed to be pressed once.

“I don’t think so, mate. He just wanted to wish me luck.” Gloria stared at her shoes absentmindedly as the elevator finally opened and Hop stopped smashing the “up” button. 

“That’s awfully sus. Especially after he yelled at me in class today.” Hop led the way into the elevator and hit the button for the floor he lived on, only once this time.

“He didn’t yell at you. I think it was called for; you were bein’ quite distracting today.”

“That’s rich, coming from you.”

Gloria was astonished at Hop’s sudden change in attitude. It seemed like the interaction he’d broken up was unusually upsetting to him. She decided to change the subject.

“Why haven’t you finished your packing yet? I did mine all last night.”

“Oh, you know me,” Hop said with a smile as the elevator opened on the floor of their destination. He hurried out and down the hall, Gloria close behind. “Couldn’t sleep, tried to let out some energy through studying.”

“Studying? We just had midterms.”

Hop came upon his room quickly, throwing the door open right away as he hadn’t locked it before class. Gloria sometimes questioned her friend’s living habits, which was again confirmed by the state of his room they came upon.

The Champion followed her rival into his room, not sure where she should sit while he finished packing for the weekend. Both Hop’s and his roommate’s desk chairs were occupied by piles of books and clothes, which were equally likely to be clean or worn. Hop dug through the pile on his chair, somehow knowing exactly where the shirt he was looking for resided within the mess.

“Hop, how do you and Carson live like this?” Gloria asked, slightly horrified at not being able to see the carpet through all the mess on the floor.

Hop looked up at her for a second, then continued his whirlwind pace of finding things he needed and throwing them into a heap on his bed.

“Well, Carson’s almost never here unless he’s sleeping. And he only sleeps about four hours a night.” Hop continued his packing mania as Gloria simply shut the door behind her and sat down against it.

“Maybe you should stay home this weekend and clean instead,” Gloria remarked, noticing how much worse the room looked when she was sitting on the floor.

Hop laughed a bit to himself, clearly in a better mood already. He froze suddenly at some unknown thought, then shooed Gloria away from the door as he threw open the closet adjacent to it.

“I almost forgot! Lee told me to wear something nice tonight, he’s going to have you and me speak at the opening ceremony.”

Gloria’s eyes widened as she shot up to her feet. “Huh?! When did he tell you that?”

“He texted me during Water Bio. I thought you already knew!”

Gloria frantically dug her Rotom phone out of her backpack, opening her messages for the first time since before classes that morning. She’d been trying so hard to focus on school she hadn’t even been paying attention to notifications. Sure enough, she had missed texts from Leon.

_Leon: I got some media time for us tonight. Im gonna say some things but if you and Hop wanna talk a bit, i’ve made the plans_

_Leon: you might wanna wear something nice. I’ll be in my tower uiform_

_Leon: hellooooo? This is kinda important_

Gloria quickly put away her phone again and began to head out the door. _Did that man really wait til THE DAY OF to tell me about this?!_

“Sorry, mate, I gotta go figure this fancy thing out.”

“Oh, I’m almost done, let me come with!” Hop finished stuffing a pair of slacks into his duffel and slung it over one shoulder. “I can help you pick something out.”

Gloria rolled her eyes. “I guess so.”

* * *

“Shit. I don’t have anything nice with me besides a cocktail dress.” Gloria complained as she flopped onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. Hop sat at Gloria’s desk, spinning the swivel chair in circles as Marnie snoozed on her own bed with headphones on.

“That’ll look nice enough, Glor. Just hurry, we don’t have a lot of time.” Hop continued spinning, not used to actually being able to sit in a desk chair.

“I’m supposed to look elegant, ya doof. Not like I’m hitting the town.” Gloria pressed her palms over her eyes, secretly wishing Leon hadn’t asked her to speak that night. Suddenly, a last-ditch idea popped into her head. She jumped off her bed and began to dig through her packed bag that sat on the floor.

“Leon’s wearing that crazy vintage getup tonight, isn’t he?” Gloria thought out loud, carefully pulling a garment out of her bag.

“Yeah, why?” Hop stopped swiveling, interested in what Gloria was getting at.

“I guess I’ll just wear my ‘V.S. Tower Tycoon” getup as well.” She held up a long, royal blue tailcoat with matching slacks and a white dress shirt, made complete with a fluffy collar.

“WOAH! That looks like what Lee was wearing the other day, but like… better!” Hop suddenly looked puzzled. “Wait, what’s a Tower Tycoon?”

Gloria thought for a moment, realizing Leon probably wasn’t using the traditional Tower boss title since he wasn’t a Battle Technician.

“Oh, it’s just technically what frontier Tower bosses are called, but I guess I misspoke. This is what I’m going to wear if I face Leon this weekend.”

“That is BADASS!”

“I’ll look like I’m about to ride a Rapidash in Medieval armor off into the sunset.”

* * *

Gloria and Hop made it to Hammerlocke station with only minutes to spare. The station was swarming with students and all sorts of citizens, traveling for the weekend, most of them to Wyndon.

As Hop and Gloria left the HU campus with a few other student challengers, they were met with nearly everyone in their path asking for some sort of autograph or photo together, which the challengers had to deny for time’s sake. They were running a bit behind schedule already and assured their fans they’d be back in Hammerlocke before the weekend was over.

There was also a crowd of battle fans outside the stadium, wishing Gloria, Hop, and all the other challengers luck at the Tower. To Gloria’s dismay, she’d spotted the gym leader Raihan towering above the crowd, taking selfies with some of his own fans. He’d managed to catch the Champion’s eye just as she passed, and she may or may not have seen him wink at her.

_I’m not letting you get me into a PR nightmare, Raihan. We have reputations to uphold, y’know._

Gloria and Hop boarded the train together and found the compartment she’d reserved for just the two of them. As the train left Hammerlocke, the two trainers waved out the window to all of their local fans. It was surreal. A few months earlier they were just a couple of small-town kids struggling with young adulthood, dreaming of taking on the gym challenge; now, they represented an entire generation.


	4. The Arrival

The train ride to Wyndon from Hammerlocke was relatively short, especially compared to the trips Gloria and Hop used to take there from Wedgehurst when they were younger. The trainers spent most of the ride gazing out the window, watching as the sunshine of Hammerlocke gave way to cloudier mountain landscapes.

About a half hour out from their destination, Gloria’s Rotom phone chimed.

“New Chatter followers for you, Gloria!” Rotom buzzed happily. The Champion retrieved the phone from her bag and turned on the screen.

“No surprise there, miss champion!” Hop teased from his seat opposite Gloria. She rolled her eyes at him with a smile then opened the application with its Chatot icon.

 _Forgot to turn that setting off when I turned my ringer back on. I’m getting hundreds of followers a day, don’t need to be bugged every five minutes!_ She mindlessly scrolled through the list of new followers, only stopping on one profile that stood out to her.

@TheNewFairyKing – **Gym Leader Bede** followed you!

_Since when did he get a Chatter?_ Gloria curiously clicked on the gym leader’s profile, which displayed that he’d joined in October 2019. _Today’s the 11 h… so that must have been recently._

Bede already had about a hundred followers, but in true celebrity fashion was only following about 20 users. Letting her curiosity get the best of her, Gloria checked to see who else the fairy-type user saw fit of a Chatter follow.

_Hm… Milo, Nessa, Kabu… I guess he’s just following the other league people._ Gloria had to stifle a wince when she saw Raihan’s new profile picture, a mirror selfie of him t-posing taken in his upstairs bathroom. _I wish I didn’t know that much about where he lives._ The only other user on Bede’s following list besides Galar league members was a girl named Klara, whose profile simply read “Ballonlea, GL”.

_Oh, she’s the one he always sits with in lecture. Must be his girlfriend or something._ Gloria navigated back to Bede’s page, scrolling down only to find he hadn’t chattered anything yet. She scrolled back up to his profile; he had no bio text, his birthday was April 24th, and Gloria found herself clicking on his profile photo.

Bede’s hair seemed to have gotten longer since the gym challenge. It framed his face a bit differently; Gloria thought it made him look older. In his profile picture, the gym leader was holding a Hatenna over his head in a pose that seemed like he was about to shoot a basketball, the ball in this case being the Pokémon. Gloria giggled out loud and quickly closed the app as Hop looked up at her, breaking the silence.

“What’s so funny?” He asked, nosy as ever.

“Oh nothin’. Just something I saw online.” Gloria pocketed her phone, going back to staring out the window. _Nice to know Bede got a sense of humor since the gym challenge._

“Alright, don’t tell me.”

“Huh? Mate, it really wasn’t anything special.”

“…you’re lookin’ a bit off. Not texting Raihan again, are we?”

Gloria sat up straight, brow furrowing in anger as she glared at Hop.

“Why does everyone keep sayin’ that? First Marnie, now you, what’s the big idea? He’s just one of my training partners, quit teasin’ me!”

Hop leaned in towards Gloria, smirking lightly.

“Word around campus is you got home pretty late from the Stadium last night, hm?”

“I was TRAININ’! For this weekend! Get off my case, will ya?” Gloria’s mind whirled with worry, hoping that was all her classmates were saying about her and the gym leader. Besides, she knew that even if she _wanted_ to be in a relationship, it wouldn’t be with someone like _Raihan._ Sure, he was handsome… and funny, and endearing, and really damn talented, and really good at a lot of things she wasn’t, and _reaaally_ good at…

But Gloria definitely had other priorities in mind. And the dragon tamer wasn’t really someone anyone saw settling down, like, _ever._

“All right, I’ll quit. It’s fun to tease the champion once in a while, though.”

“Not when it turns into tabloids calling me every degrading name in the book, Hop.”

“Aye, you got a point there.”

Gloria and Hop sat together in somewhat-awkward silence until the train conductor addressed the passengers over the intercom.

“Next stop, Wyndon Station. This is the end of the line today, folks, so everyone on board must get off at Wyndon.”

The rivals met each other’s eyes with a shared, sparkling excitement. Although Hop was now on the road to becoming a Pokémon professor rather than a world-renowned trainer, he and Gloria would always share the same passion for battling.

“I can’t wait to see Lee, it’s been so long!” Hop exclaimed, fixing his hair in the reflection of the train window.

“Yeah, me too. I’m kind of nervous for all the news coverage, though…” Gloria watched the trees outside the window thin out as they neared the capital city. _I haven’t done my own makeup in over a month!_

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Hop assured as he turned back towards her. “If my careless brother could deal with the cameras for nearly a decade, you’ll be totally fine.”

“I guess you’re right.”

The view outside the train became the familiar Wyndon skyline within a few moments, skyscrapers gleaming and reflecting the partly-cloudy sky in the distance. It tended to be a bit chillier up north, so Gloria retrieved her knit scarf from her backpack and wrapped it around her neck a few times before pulling her sweater back on.

Hop suddenly jumped to his feet, eyes wide as he stared out the window.

“Glor, look!”

The Champion followed her friend’s gaze, astonished by what she saw. The train was pulling into Wyndon station, which was crowded to the brim with people holding banners, signs, and even their own Pokémon in the air. The signs read, _Welcome, Champion!, Good Luck, Trainers!, Hi, Hop!,_ and the like.

“Oh goodness, I wasn’t prepared for this!” Gloria hurriedly fixed her bangs and leapt up beside Hop, joining him in waving at the crowd. The trainers had to brace their legs as the train screeched to a halt, then gave a few final smiles to their fans as they gathered their belongings from the compartment.

“Do I look okay? Fix my collar, would you?” Hop asked as the trainers headed down the aisles and towards the closest exit doors.

“You look fine. And you don’t have a collar to fix, you’re wearing a hoodie.” Gloria led the way out of the train, bidding thanks to the crew as they waved goodbye to the passengers.

An escort from the station met Gloria, Hop, and a few other well-known trainers as they got off, clearly there to help the challengers make it out of the station without having to deal with a rabid crowd.

“Aw, I wanted to sign some autographs,” Hop complained as he followed Gloria and their escorts off the platform through a back exit.

“There will be plenty of time for that this weekend, mate. Let’s hurry and check into our hotel so we can spiffy up before the ceremony.” Gloria rolled up the right sleeve of her sweater and checked her watch. _3:30… we’ve got three hours ‘til Leon wants us at the tower._

Once they were well away from the crowd surrounding Wyndon station, Gloria and Hop thanked and tipped their escorts and immediately called a Corviknight Taxi. Luckily for them, the pilot didn’t pester them too much with questions and was intent on doing his job. It was the nicest flight Gloria had in a long time.

* * *

“The Bluebelleon Inn… I really can’t believe they renamed the Rose of the Rondelands!” Hop exclaimed as he and Gloria waited for an elevator in the lobby of their hotel.

“Well, a lot of things in Wyndon have been pretty awkward since what went down with Chairman Rose,” Gloria muttered, distracted by a Rookidee fluttering in a young tree outside the window. It reminded her of home. “The Tower, this place… sometimes things gotta change.”

“Wait a sec, Glor… Bluebells, like the lil’ flowers we have back in Postwick… Bluebelleon… Bluebell LEON…”

“You don’t think…?” Gloria and Hop exchanged an incredulous, bug-eyed glance.

The elevator arrived on the first floor and the two friends stepped back to let the passengers out before they got on. They were mostly businesspeople, but there was one family of three with a small child around nine or ten years old.

“Mommy, Daddy! It’s Champion Gloria and Hop!”

The trainers mentioned looked at each other in surprise and waved at the boy, smiling warmly.

“Hey bud, nice to see you!” Hop replied as if addressing an old friend.

He and Gloria hastily got into the elevator as the family waved at him, the elevator doors closing as the boy said, “I can’t wait to hear about your battles this weekend!”

“That was sweet,” Gloria sighed as she hit the button for the fourth floor. “I’m still not used to being recognized yet.”

“ _You’re_ not used to it? I’m not even the champion and I have fans, it’s so bonkers to me.” Hop laughed in response, seemingly much more positive about things than he was at the end of the gym challenge. It was as if he was finally happy with his place in the world.

“Fair. But I don’t think I’ll ever be used to it.”

* * *

“I don’t look ridiculous?” Gloria smoothed down the tailcoat of her Battle Tower boss outfit before sitting down in the Corviknight taxi, feeling extremely self-conscious next to the more casually-dressed Hop.

“You’re a STUNNER in that getup, mate! Leon’ll be so surprised when he sees you, I bet it’ll scare ‘im!”

Gloria didn’t want to admit it, but that was what she was going for.

When the two of them landed at the Battle Tower, an even bigger crowd than earlier had formed outside, clearly waiting for Galar’s most famous challengers.

“IT’S HOP!!!”

“AND THE CHAMPION, TOO!”

The aforementioned trainers tipped their pilot and bade him farewell, then waved at the crowd as they exited the flying taxi. Before Gloria had a chance to think, a familiar figure appeared beside her and Hop.

“’Ello, you two. I’m here to ‘elp ye avoid the mob out here and hook ya up with Leon.”

“Oh, hey, Piers!” Gloria exclaimed, throwing herself at her best friend’s older brother in a familial hug.

“I didn’t know you were gonna be here!” Hop added, going in for his secret handshake with the dark-type trainer.

“I decided to come an’ ‘elp out last minute. I figured Marnie’d be home in Spikemuth this weekend, so I won’t hafta worry about tha’ ol’ mess. And, woah there, you’re lookin’ sharp today, ain’t ye?”

Gloria smiled as she and Hop followed the former gym leader to an area gated off from the crowd, waving and winking at her fans before the three of them disappeared through a side door into the newly-revamped Battle Tower.

The two challengers couldn’t believe their eyes at what Leon had done with the place. The once-cold atmosphered Macro Cosmos headquarters was now adorned with flowers, bluebells the most plentiful amongst them, and gilded furniture, almost like a royalty-encrusted, indoor replica of Postwick.

“Leon, I got ‘em here for ya.” Piers called into the seemingly empty lobby. An instant later, Leon himself appeared out of a side door opposite the room of where the others had entered, a cheesy grin plastered on his face.

“Hey! So glad you’re finally here!” The former champion strode over to them, stopping suddenly as he took in the sight before him. “Woah… Glor, you look…”

“Amazin’?” Hop interjected, smile fading as Gloria elbowed him in the stomach.

“…Scary.” Leon finished, continuing towards his friends and family to exchange hugs. “I’m only sorta kidding, you definitely look great. But also like you could kick some _serious_ ass.”

Hop recoiled somewhat hypocritically at the sound of his brother cursing. “Where’d you get that mouth, Lee?”

“After losing the champion title I decided to lighten up a bit. Did you know I haven’t said the F-word in eight years?”

“Not even when ya forget ta ask for hot sauce at Taco Bell?” Piers asked, trying not to laugh at Leon’s straightedge attitude.

“Not even when I forget to ask for hot sauce at Taco Bell!” Leon affirmed, laughing. Gloria couldn’t help but smile, she hadn’t seen her predecessor in person in over a month. He certainly seemed much happier than he did back then.

“Anywho, Leon… when should I expect to put on my ‘Champion Mouth’ for the cameras?” Gloria asked, looking around the lobby.

“Oh, oops!” The tower boss looked down at the golden watch he was wearing, having obviously lost track of time. “I had them stall a bit ‘til you all got here. The news crew is waiting outside!”

“Get on with it then, you lot!” Piers almost forcibly shoved his friends towards the double doors that gated the Battle Tower, triggering the sensor that caused them to open automatically. “I ain’t bein’ on no newscast, so I’ll just be waitin’ here til ya get back.”

“Thanks again, mate!” Hop called over his shoulder, not realizing that cameras were already rolling on the three trainers as they passed through the double doors.

“And here we have the mastermind behind the Battle Tower, Galar’s own Leon, with his younger brother and well-known trainer Hop as well as our Champion, Gloria!”

The Champion froze up at the reporter’s introduction, not knowing whether to focus on him or any one of the ten cameras currently zooming in on her face.

“Hello, Galar! The Battle Tower is just about to open to all of YOU!” Leon exclaimed into a very specific camera in the middle of the crowd. He seemed to know what he was doing, so Gloria followed his gaze and smiled at the cameraman.

“I’d like to let my brother have a few words before we hand it over to the Champion,” Leon continued with enthusiasm. “Hop?”

Hop seemed to break out of a trance when he was mentioned, suddenly throwing himself into a speech.

“Oh, man, it’s so great to be here today! I’ve always been so enamored with Pokémon battling, and even though I’ve altered my path a bit recently towards becoming a Professor-” The crowd interrupted Hop with a tremendous cheer, which he beamed at until it died down, “- I think the Battle Tower is going to be a great place to further develop my skills as a trainer.”

“That sounds wonderful, Hop!” the reporter exclaimed, his teeth shining a little too white for Gloria’s comfort. “And who else do we have up here with us this evening?” Before Gloria could address the cameras, Leon interjected without a second thought.

“I made sure to bring our Champion into this fair city tonight, not just because she’s my wonderful successor, but…”

Gloria quickly turned toward Leon, her heart dropping as she realized she couldn’t stop his words from flowing out, being broadcast to the entire region.

“Gloria here was the one who so graciously helped me out with this whole project!”

Hop glanced at Leon in confusion. Gloria was sure she could hear her Rotom phone buzzing endlessly from behind the Battle Tower doors where she’d left her purse before stepping outside. The cheering from the crowd seemed to be drowned out by Gloria imagining Raihan throwing a temper tantrum all the way back in Hammerlocke Stadium.

“Er… yeah! It’s been an honor, Leon.” Gloria’s words had little excitement behind them. The flames of her desire to beat him and his team into the ground that weekend had instantaneously escalated into a wildfire.


	5. Focus Sash Whiplash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, all! This is my longest chapter yet, and you'll soon see why. If you're enjoying so far, feel free to let me know your thoughts! Writing this pivotal chapter took a lot out of me and I'm traveling back to University tomorrow, so this will hopefully satisfy you all until I'm back to writing more. Enjoy!

After what was, to Gloria, a disastrous news conference, the Champion hurriedly registered for her first round of battles at the Tower. Luckily for her, there wasn’t much time to spare for yelling at Leon about what he’d said; she wanted to wait until the weekend was over to read him the riot act. Gloria was in Wyndon to battle, and that was what she was going to focus on.

“You didn’t tell me you were working with Lee on all this,” Hop mentioned as he registered himself for battles at an automated kiosk in the Tower lobby. His tone seemed a bit less energetic than usual. “That’s pretty cool.”

Gloria sulked beside him, having already signed up for the weekend.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” she lied a bit, trying to make her involvement seem as minor as possible, “Leon organized most of it, he just asked me for some advice along the way.” That was all pretty much true, but it had definitely been more than _some_ advice.

“Still, mate, you’re already doing such amazing things as Champion.” Hop received his time ticket for when he needed to be ready to battle for Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

Gloria mindlessly grabbed her phone out of her purse and turned on the screen. She’d put it on silent right after the newscast as it had been buzzing endlessly with text, call, and social media notifications. She hadn’t checked who they were from yet.

There were so many notifications on Gloria’s lock screen that she couldn’t even see the extent of them. She’d made it so that message previews didn’t show up for privacy reasons, but she could still see who’d been trying to contact her.

_Marnie – 2 unread messages_

_Mum – 1 unread message_

_Raihan – 33 unread messages, 4 missed calls_

Gloria sighed, shutting off her phone completely. The Champion decided she would only reply to her missed notifications after hopefully battling Leon on Saturday. She desperately needed to focus on battling.

“Hop, what’s your time ticket say?” Gloria asked her friend as they walked away from the counter, settling down on two velvet couches facing each other over a coffee table in the front of the lobby.

“My time slot for tonight is eight to ten. Tomorrow, I’m on from noon to four, and if I win ‘em all, I’m slotted to face Lee at five.” Hop replied, turning his ticket over in his hands.

“Sounds good. I’m on at 7:30 tonight, so I don’t have much time til then. I have to be here at eleven tomorrow, and I’ll likely be against Leon at four.”

“You’ll definitely win your way there,” Hop looked up at his friend with a soft smile but his eyes were already clouded with defeat. “I’m not even sure I’ll get through tonight’s matches…”

“Don’t think like that, mate!” Gloria encouraged him, a bit annoyed that Hop was still doubting himself after how well he’d done in the gym challenge. “Just go into it with a good attitude and you’ll be fine.”

The two rivals moved into the challengers’ waiting room after a while as more and more trainers and fans arrived in the lobby. They signed a few autographs until Gloria suggested they try to shift into a focused battle mindset.

The Champion had since changed into a more traditional challenger uniform reminiscent of what she wore during the gym challenge, this time with athletic leggings instead of shorts and a champion sword-and-shield logo on the front of her jersey. The fancier getup was being saved for her battle with Leon, of course.

“I’m on in ten,” she mentioned to Hop, who seemed busy on his phone answering fans’ Chatter comments. “I’m gonna go register my Pokémon, I think I’ve decided on who I want to use tonight. See ya on the other side, mate.”

Hop looked up from his phone, his old smile returning. “Have fun, Champ. This’ll be a piece of cake for ya.”

Gloria rolled her eyes as she waved goodbye to Hop, walking past a few other trainers seated on the benches in the waiting area. She made her way up to the receptionist’s desk, detaching the six Poké balls from her belt and setting them on the counter.

“H-hello,” Gloria stuttered a bit, nerves getting the best of her. “I’m here to register my three Pokémon.”

“Welcome, Champion!” The receptionist greeted, her gray eyes beaming. “First, what is your challenger number?”

Gloria hurriedly pulled the crumpled time ticket out of her pocket, searching for the ID number that was printed on it.

“Um… 0001-19.” She read the number out loud as the receptionist typed the number into the computer behind the desk.

“Great, thank you. Now, please hand me the Pokémon you are using today.”

Gloria pocketed her ticket and slid three of the shrunken Poké balls across the counter, her hand shaking a bit as she did so. _The first trainer tiers are easy, calm down already!_

The receptionist carefully placed the Poké balls in a device beside the computer, similar to the machines used in Pokémon centers. The capsules grew to normal size and their buttons blinked as the data inside was read.

“Cinderace, Dracovish, and Lucario, correct?”

“That’s right,” Gloria’s voice cracked as her Pokémon’s species names were displayed on a monitor on the desk that faced her.

“Great, thank you. Now, if you would be so kind to leave the rest of your party here during your time in the Tower, that would be splendid.”

Gloria felt a bit uncomfortable leaving the rest of her partners behind the desk while she battled. She knew these were Frontier rules everywhere in the world and that security here would be impenetrable, but she couldn’t suppress a queasy feeling at the thought of someone trying to nab the Champion’s team.

“Yeah, no problem.” She passed the rest of her team over to the receptionist, saying goodbye to them in her head. _Be good, you three. Chariot, Nori, Gio… I’ll be back soon._

The receptionist handed back Gloria’s selected team, briefly explaining the rules of the upcoming battles.

“Your Pokémon have been temporarily set to Level 50. This reset will automatically wear off at the end of your session tonight, so no need to worry about lasting side effects. Their stats have also been automatically altered to match their level marker…” Gloria began to zone out, thinking about the battles to come. Although she had been studying the Frontier rules for as long as she could remember, the Champion had never actually participated at a competitive facility. Gloria feared there was no amount of reading or mock battles that could have adequately prepared her for what she was about to face.

“Thank you, ma’am. I’ll be back at 9:30.”

* * *

It was an easy gauntlet for the Champion to overcome.

After nearly twelve battles in two hours, Gloria was more than exhausted, her team weary as well. Ancho, Splat and Foo had fought hard but only faced one or two truly tough opponents. Her confidence had returned, and Gloria knew that if she kept up this pace the next day, she was sure to face Leon.

Gloria wanted to battle the former Champion, yes, but she hadn’t spoken to him after the broadcast earlier that evening. He probably didn’t know he’d done anything wrong by accrediting her for the Tower, and Gloria wanted to explain why that was a mistake, but she just didn’t have the energy for it that night. Besides, she wanted to focus on the task at hand; winning her way to the top.

Rather than heading back to the hotel right away, Gloria sat around in the Battle Tower lobby to wait for Hop. Normally she would have sent a text and told him she was leaving on her own, but Gloria wanted to avoid reading her missed messages at all costs. She decided to talk to some fans about her recent battles to pass the time.

“So, how’d you do in there?” a young girl asked, her eyes sparkling as she talked with the Champion.

“Oh, it was a good time. My team and I won twelve in a row before we had to retire for the night!” Gloria didn’t want to brag, but the first series of battles wasn’t much of a challenge at all.

“Ooh, which Pokémon did you use? Didja bring Zamazenta?” another girl asked.

Gloria didn’t want to admit how slow her training with the legendary Pokémon was going. Zamazenta was exceedingly proud, and although it saw the Champion as a worthy trainer, building trust with it was slow-moving.

“Nah, me mum is watchin’ over ‘Zenta while I’m at school. He needs lots of attention, I don’t want to keep him cooped up all the time. Tonight, I brought my aces… can ya guess who?”

“Um… Definitely Cinderace!”

“Yep! Ancho was leadin’ off my team of three tonight. Foo was out there takin’ names, and…”

“Wait, I thought Nori headed off your party!” An older teenage boy interrupted. “During the gym challenge, you’d always start with your Thievul and switch out with Parting Shot if you had a disadvantage…”

“Wow, you’ve studied up! Nope, Nori wasn’t with me tonight. I brought on a newer friend, someone who can dish out some MAJOR hits. His name is Splat, the Dracovish…”

“Gloria!” the Champion was cut off by the sound of Hop’s voice as he ran up to her, apparently finished with his first series of the weekend. “How’d it go?”

Gloria turned to him as he reached her, smiling inwardly at her fans’ reactions to seeing Hop.

“Smooth as butter, my friend. Twelve whole wins!”

“What’d I tell ya? You’re doing great. I managed to have eleven battles in the two hours, and… I won ‘em all, too!”

“Wow, Hop, you’re probably as good as your brother now!” One of the younger girls next to Gloria squeaked, striking a funny-looking Charizard pose.

“Eh, we’ll see about that one!” Hop answered shyly, trying to avoid grinning too wide. He turned back to Gloria and she noticed how tired he looked.

“We should head back for the night, I’m beat.” He muttered.

“Yeah, I was just waiting for ya.” Gloria smiled at their fans one last time and waved goodbye. “Thanks for saying hi, you three. I can tell you’ll be great trainers real soon.” The kids looked at each other with eyes as round as dinner plates, completely in awe of the Champion’s praise.

“Bye, Champion!”

“See ya around, Hop!”

* * *

Gloria laid on top of the still-made hotel bed, staring up at the ceiling. The Champion Suite she’d reserved had two king-size beds, a master bathroom and a living area, which were more luxuries than she’d ever need, but she was free to book it anytime as the Champion of Galar. She and Hop were sharing the room that weekend, and with how many sleepovers they’d had as little kids, it was a completely normal occurrence. During the flight back to the hotel, Hop had received a call from his brother.

_“Hop, you and Gloria should join me for dinner since your battles have ended!”_

_“Sorry, Lee, but… Glor and I are pretty worn out. Maybe tomorrow would be better.”_

Gloria was beyond grateful that Hop had declined Leon’s offer. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally cause a scene in public… she’d never be able to live something like that down. Who knew how irrational she would have acted, being so angry and so exhausted at the same time.

“You okay, Glor?” Hop’s voice broke the monotony of the ambient noise coming from the TV. “You’re awfully quiet tonight.”

The Champion squeezed her eyes shut, resisting the urge to turn her phone back on and answer all the unread messages.

“I’m okay,” she sighed, rolling over to face the wall rather than her friend who was already tucked into his own bed, ready to fall asleep. “There’s just a lot going on right now.” She suddenly focused on the soft voices coming from the TV. The news was on, recapping the day’s events:

“Word has it that Champion Gloria and Trainer Hop were among the challengers who cleared tonight’s gauntlet of the Battle Tower’s first season.” A reporter declared. Gloria rolled her eyes, tired of hearing randos who didn’t know her speak as if they knew her life story. “Although we can’t provide live coverage of these matches, we will be interviewing trainers at the Tower tomorrow as the best of them all face off against Leon of Postwick.”

“Thanks for that, Minerva,” another reporter chimed in. “Now, we have an interesting situation with the Champion facing some elite trainers this weekend. Some of you may be thinking, ‘If Gloria loses, especially to Leon, what does that mean for her Championship title?”

Gloria grabbed a pillow and squished it over her head.

“Well, since the Battle Tower follows the Frontier rules originally established in Hoenn, these battles are not official league matches and do not affect any trainers’ Galar League standings. However, there is a separate tier system in the Tower that trainers can gain and lose their rank in.”

“Turn of the telly, would ya?” Gloria ordered, her voice muffled by the pillow on her head. The room was suddenly silent as Hop must have listened to her command.

“You should get ready for bed,” Hop muttered as Gloria threw the pillow off her face as to breathe normally again. “I think you’ll feel better in the morning.”

“I’m hopin’ so.” The Champion answered, reluctantly getting up and trudging over to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

* * *

There had been talk on the town all night about each Tower challenger’s teams, held items and movesets, so Gloria had taken it upon herself to wake up early on Saturday morning to do some strategizing.

_Foo’s had the focus sash all day and hasn’t needed it, so I think I’ll give her the leftovers…_ Gloria thought, sitting on the leather couch in the suite’s living area while scribbling in a little notebook she’d brought with her. _And although the choice scarf/Fishious Rend combo did wonders for Splat yesterday, I think we should bring back the rocky helmet to take people off guard, ESPECIALLY Leon… I doubt we can outspeed Charizard. Although depending on his lineup, he might have mostly special-attackers…_ Gloria pursed her lips and tapped her temple with her pen, trying to decide what to do.

“Mate, it’s seven in the morning, why are you up?” Gloria jumped a little as Hop walked into the room, rubbing sleep from his eyes. She must have left the door open, which had let light into the bedroom from the window.

“Oh, sorry. I’m just trying to plan for the day.”

“Jeez, give yourself a break, wont’cha? And at least let me take you to breakfast before you head over to the Tower.”

* * *

Gloria could only stomach a yogurt from the hotel café before heading to her fate. She carried a small duffel with her that held the outfit she’d face Leon in, mulling over in her head if it was a good idea to use the same team she’d used the night before.

_Leon’s certainly heard about my lineup from yesterday, especially after I told everyone in the lobby. His Tower trainers have probably also relayed my movesets to him… Is that allowed? I guess so. Well, I swapped around some items and even used some TMs on Ancho and Foo, so… at least I have that. And maybe he’s assuming I’m using a different team today. He won’t know what I’m using today until I face him, he’ll only know what I did last night… Okay, I think this will be fine…_

“I think I’m going to check out the Battle Shop before I head in,” Hop mentioned as the two trainers approached the entrance to the Battle Tower. “Might pick up a few last-minute items to switch things up.”

Gloria already knew what the Shop had in stock – she’d decided on nearly all of its inventory. There were a few items she was saving up for with the Battle Points she’d won with each battle; it wouldn’t be wise for her to spend them now.

“Good idea. But you might want to save up for some of the rarer things they have; the more expensive an item is, the more desirable it tends to be in battle.” She told Hop, wiping the sweat from her palms on her leggings. It wasn’t even moderately warm outside, but Gloria was caught up in nerves once again.

“Next time I see ya, you’ll have faced Lee!” Hop exclaimed as Gloria stood in front of the elevator that would take her to the second half of her first Tower series.

“Hopefully you’re right, and hopefully I’ll win…” Gloria’s hands shook as she rested her fingers on the three Poké balls in her belt. “Good luck to you, Hop.”

“You too, Champ!”

* * *

A half hour.

That was all the time Gloria had before she was slated to face Leon.

She hurried into the locker room just below the top floor of the Tower, quickly stripping off her sweat-saturated Challenger uniform. Her skin was warm and damp from the heat of battle, but she threw on her boss-fighting uniform without cleaning up further than simply reapplying deodorant.

Gloria looked herself over in the mirror after changing, breathing heavily after having to pull on her tall black boots. Her ponytail was falling out, strands of hair sticking up all around her head. _This won’t do,_ she thought, undoing her hair tie and retrieving a comb from her bag. Gloria quickly combed through her hair, smoothening it as much as possible, then tied it back up in the highest ponytail she could muster at the top of her head. _There we go._ Every strand was pulled back aside from her sideswept bangs, an iconic look.

She had time to spare after the rush, so Gloria took a few swigs from her nearly empty water bottle and dabbed her face dry with a paper towel. She took out a small makeup bag and pinned her bangs back to powder her face and hide the redness of her flushed cheeks. She didn’t want to look as exhausted as she felt – Leon hadn’t been battling all day, so he had an advantage there – Gloria wanted to feign the same energy.

After finishing up, Gloria headed out of the locker room and up a short flight of stairs. She sat on the bench next to the door that led to the roof, checking her watch.

_Five minutes til go time._

Gloria bounced her knee as she waited, deciding to put on some chapstick to freshen up even more. Her chest felt tight and she forced herself to breathe deeply, calming her mind as much as she could.

It was more than the nervousness of battle. It was much more than having to face Leon for the first time since the championship. Gloria and her predecessor were going to be the only ones on that roof, besides a room monitor who would only talk to the trainers if one of them were to forfeit. There was time to talk. What would he say to her? What would she say to _him?_

“Challenger Gloria, it’s time. Are you ready to face the tower boss?”

Gloria looked up at the room monitor, smiling gently as to hide her overwhelming anxiety.

“Yeah, I’m all set. Let’s go.” She stood up, patting the Poké balls in their holster, feeling a burst of courage as her tailcoat trailed down to the backs of her knees. Gloria led the way through the gilded double doors and onto the roof.

The sunlight of the outside world was blinding compared to the earthy glow inside the tower and Gloria fought the urge to cover her eyes as they adjusted to the light. It was mostly sunny in Wyndon that afternoon, a somewhat rare sight, and Gloria strode up to her position on the battlefield, which shone like crystal in the daylight.

Leon was already there waiting, his scarlet coat like a burst of flame against the azure sky. Gloria looked at him for a second before speaking, noticing right away how dull his eyes seemed, missing their usual glow.

“I knew you’d make it this far,” He declared, his voice strong but lacking some resonance. “Are you ready to show me what you’ve got, Technician?”

It was intriguing to be called by that title rather than Champion, especially since Gloria hadn’t defeated a Frontier-type boss yet. Leon likely didn’t know it was usually an earned title, but the Champion took it in stride. Her eyes then narrowed as she remembered what had transpired the day before.

“You shouldn’t have said anything about me helping out with all this, especially on the news.”

Leon’s eyes darkened, glaring at the Champion. Her heart skipped a beat in surprise, caught completely off guard by his reaction.

“Er… Leon, you feeling alright? You look exhausted.” The tower boss looked down for a moment, then back up at Gloria.

“I was up ‘til Arceus knows when last night, on the phone with Raihan.” he answered, his voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t need you tellin’ me what he’s already said.”

Gloria suddenly regretted bringing up the topic. Clearly Leon was already experiencing the fallout of his impulsivity, and her fanning the flames would only make him more merciless in battle.

“Anyway, I already asked you,” he continued, sounding more tired than upset. “Ready?”

“Let’s go.”

“Out, Ancho!” “Go, Asher!”

The opponents called out their first Pokémon in unison, following the traditional rule as to not give one trainer an advantage. Gloria’s eyes widened as the two Cinderaces popped out onto the battlefield, facing each other in slightly different stances. She looked out of the corner of her eye at the holographic scoreboard projected onto the Tower’s dome.

“When did you get a Cinderace?” Gloria blurted out, keeping her voice from shaking.

“Raised him up back home quite some time ago! You don’t know half of who I am as a trainer!” Leon called, his usual confidence seeping back in his words.

“Focus blast!”

“Pyro Ball!”

_Focus blast?!_ Gloria stared in shock as Leon’s Cinderace moved ever-so-slightly faster than Ancho, firing a ball of pure energy into her own Pokémon’s torso. Before Ancho could even kick up a Pyro ball, he was flown backward, hitting the ground with immense force. According to the hologram, Gloria’s Pokémon had lost over half of its HP.

_How did it do so much damage?! He doesn’t even have STAB! Wait… what’s Cinderace’s hidden ability?_

“Ancho, get on your feet and use Pyro Ball!” Gloria’s Cinderace leapt up again, wiping dirt off its face as it kicked up a fireball and sent it flying at Asher. Leon attempted to call a dodge but the Pyro Ball collided within milleseconds, sending Asher tumbling backwards. The opponent’s Cinderace landed on its feet, still just above half health.

_Shit. I was not expecting this at all, shit!!! I’d get off a Flame Charge for the speed boost, but I’ll be knocked out by then, it’s not worth it! We just have to count on their Focus Blast missing!_

“Ancho, Pyro Ball again!”

“Focus blast once more!”

This time, Gloria’s Cinderace waited until Asher sent its Focus Blast over, not taking its eyes off the opponent. Ancho dove under the aura ball Matrix-style and kicked up yet another fireball, launching it at Asher before Leon could even process what was happening. The move connected and the opposing Pokémon was bowled over, hitting the ground this time. However, it was still able to battle with an eighth of its total HP.

“Don’t get too cocky!” Leon shouted, his Cinderace back on its feet within seconds. “Focus blast, again!”

_Again?_ Gloria thought, _is he using choice scarf or just spamming?_

“Flame Charge!” If Gloria’s Pokémon could get in a speed boost without fainting, it’d have an advantage over what Leon sent out next.

Unfortunately, within the scuffle Ancho had gotten within a much closer range of Leon’s own Cinderace. The Focus Blast made contact before Gloria’s Pokémon could evade it, and Ancho was out for the count, flying backwards through the air towards its trainer and landing with a _thud_ on the battlefield.

 _Okay, that’s okay, we got in two good hits. Time for something foolproof._ Gloria’s mind was a whirlwind as she withdrew her Cinderace and called out her next Pokémon. Asher was weak, and this next turn was sure to be its last.

“Splat, get ‘em!” Gloria’s Dracovish entered the battle, its primitive roar echoing throughout the skydome. Splat was facing straight towards Leon, not seeming to be paying attention to the Cinderace that was diagonally in front of him. _Good boy, Splat._

“Asher, High Jump Kick!”

“Fishious Rend!” Gloria was sure Splat would be slower than Asher, but this move could still get the job done… she knew for certain that Leon would be down a Pokémon by this turn’s end. And also, was he assuming Dracovish was a rock type?

High Jump Kick connected with Splat’s head, only knocking the dragon slightly off balance. Asher, however, was sent flying back towards Leon without even being hit by Fishious Rend, the tower boss staring at his Pokémon in shock as it was completely knocked out.

“What in the…” Leon stared at the Dracovish in awe as it roared, and he finally noticed the rocky helmet equipped to the back of the Pokémon’s head. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

Gloria tried to hide her glee as Leon chose his next Pokémon. Splat was truly a force to be reckoned with.

“Alright, Red, time to shine!” Gloria’s heartbeat quickened as she recognized the nickname Leon had called out. _Charizard… already?_ Sure enough, Leon’s ace was brought out onto the battlefield, its tail flame flickering brightly. Luckily for Gloria, she read through what Leon was about to do since his Pokémon held the disadvantage in this type matchup.

“All right, Red, it’s Gigantamax time!”

“Splat, let’s Dynamax!”

The two trainers called back their Pokémon, their Poké balls glowing and morphing with a powerful red light, and they threw the Charizard and Dracovish back into battle in their gigantic, powered-up forms. Gloria covered her ears as the Pokémon roared and she hurried to stand beside her monstrous dragon.

“Red, Max Wyrmwind!”

“Max Rockfall, Splat!!”

Gloria’s heart sank as her Dracovish was hit with a super-effective move, but took solace in the facts that Splat tanked the hit with a little less than half HP left and that Charizard was dealing with a 4x super-effective hit. According to the scoreboard, the two Pokémon were at about the same level of health.

Gloria quickly decided to use Max Geyser the next turn despite only being 2x effective since its base power was much greater than Rockfall, and Splat’s water typing meant STAB.

“Max Geyser!”

“Finish him with another Max Wyrmwind!”

Gloria shielded her face with a hand as the huge Pokémon’s attacks collided at once, covering the battlefield in a harsh, violet light. As blinding as it was, Gloria was reminded of someone’s eyes, which gave her further confidence in her skills.

As if the light wasn’t enough, both Charizard and Dracovish let out deafening roars. Gloria looked up in surprise and noticed both Pokémon were left unable to battle by the last move and had begun shrinking back to size. The Champion quickly withdrew Splat and secured the ball in its holster, promptly retrieving her final team member.

 _I believe in us, old friend!_ She silently urged her Lucario into battle and threw out its ball.

“Let’s do this, Foo!”

“Anaklusmos, battle!”

Gloria felt like her heart had leapt up into her throat as Leon brought out his Aegislash. _Oh no, Oh Arceus, please not that thing. Please, no!_ The Champion recalled how Leon’s Anaklusmos was the first Pokémon he’d used against her in their championship match, quickly taking out two of Gloria’s team members. That _beast_ of a Pokémon had hurt her morale so badly that she’d almost lost to Leon like every other challenger before her. If it hadn’t been for Ancho… _And I can’t use Ancho now! If we can’t get five hits of Bone Rush in on this turn… we’re done for!_ Gloria’s hands shook feverishly as she commanded her Lucario.

“Foo, Bone Rush!”

“Swords Dance!”

_Leon, I know what you’re doing… If we don’t finish you now, you’ve got us beat._

Gloria’s Lucario bolted forward towards the Aegislash, which was carefully sharpening its sword body with the edge of the shield it held. One of Foo’s claws popped out of its paw, quickly morphing into a long femur as another claw grew back.

_The bone looks sturdy enough…_

Foo began to furiously beat the Aegislash with the bone, each hit being super-effective but only dealing moderate damage.

 _One hit… two hits, c’mon… THREE hits…_ Gloria willed the Lucario to keep going, but after the third hit, Lucario’s marrowous weapon shattered against Anaklusmos’ steel body. The Aegislash had less than half its health left, but Gloria knew what Leon was planning.

“No! Foo, Bone Rush once more!”

“Finish them with Sacred Sword!”

“FOO, DODGE IT!” The Lucario was in too close a range after its Bone Rush attack, not managing to get out of Aegislash’s radius before the Pokémon whammed itself against Gloria’s final team member. Sacred Sword sent Lucario soaring, then landing with a sickening blow against the floor. Without looking at the scoreboard, Gloria knew that Foo was out in one hit.

_…Focus sash… she didn’t have her focus sash…_

The Champion hurried to her Lucario’s side, not daring to look up at Leon as he withdrew his Aegislash.

“Foo, you fought so hard. Thank you.” She called the Pokémon back into its ball, her whole arm still shaking from the adrenaline rush.

Gloria finally stood up, feeling the sting of defeat even deeper when she managed to meet Leon’s gaze as he’d approached her.

“…That was a good battle,” she forced the words out of her mouth, trying not to choke on the depth of her loss.

“Hm. Was that really the best you could do?” Leon’s tone seemed much different than usual, none of the humility present he’d usually had after winning battles.

“W-what? What’s _that_ supposed to mean?” The Champion’s words came out like steam, as her stomach was boiling in anger.

“After our final match this summer, after all the expertise you lent me in building the Tower… you really lost that badly?”

“I _didn’t_ lose badly, you absolute prick!” Gloria was up in Leon’s face now, spitting out each word. “That was a close match and you know it!” Leon shifted his gaze at something in the distance, acting like he was above making eye contact with the Champion.

“It’s not close when I can one-shot one of the ‘Champion’s’ Pokémon. Maybe what you were on about earlier was right.”

“Leon, what are you talking about?”

“I should have had Raihan help me instead of _you._ ”

* * *

Gloria reached the first floor of the Battle Tower, hurriedly wiping the last tears from her face. _At least I’m wearing waterproof makeup._

As she entered the lobby, Gloria was met with a crowd of giddy-looking trainers eagerly awaiting her news.

“Hey, Glor!” Hop greeted from the front of the crowd. He was already back in street clothes, so the Champion assumed he’d been beaten before he had the chance to battle Leon. “So? How’d your match go?” Gloria was still in her Tower boss getup, and that combined with what time it was made it obvious to the crowd that she’d been facing the boss himself. The girl put on her best Champion smile, although it felt so, so fake, and happily greeted the crowd.

“Hi, all. Well, unfortunately… I lost!”


	6. Last Train Home

Hop and Gloria’s train back to Hammerlocke wasn’t set to depart until eleven on Sunday morning, so the two trainers decided to use the rest of their Saturday night in Wyndon to relax and enjoy what the city had to offer.

Although there was no shortage of battle fans in Wyndon, it seemed to Gloria that most of the passersby on the streets were professionals in other fields, not acting all that interested in the Champion or Hop as they passed. It was a welcome change; Gloria wouldn’t be able to take much more pestering about her battle with Leon without totally losing her cool.

“Just got a text from Lee,” Hop nudged Gloria as they walked alongside a busy main road lined with shops and restaurants, “told me he won’t be able to meet us for dinner; he’s likely facin’ at least one more challenger tonight.”

Gloria looked at Hop in surprise. “Really? Who is it?” she did her best to hide her relief at not having to see Leon again before leaving town. Subjecting Hop to their newly-wrought feud was not something Gloria had in mind.

“Beats me,” Hop shrugged, his tone weary after a day of hard work, “we’ll find out after their series is over.”

_What would Leon say to me if some rando beat him today, right after I didn’t?_

“Let’s go find somewhere to eat now, then,” Gloria urged, her hunger, fatigue and sadness dragging at her mood

* * *

Before heading to bed for their last night in Wyndon, Gloria and Hop were hanging out in the Champion suite, comfortably full after dinner, each absorbed in their own independent activity. The Champion worked on a Pokémon crossword puzzle as to avoid social media and the hundreds of questions her fans were asking while Hop scrolled through Chatter on his Rotom phone.

“Hey, come look at this!” Gloria jolted up in surprise at Hop’s remark, setting her pencil down on the coffee table before heading over to the couch to sit next to her friend.

“What’s up?”

Hop had pulled up a news article on his Rotom phone, handing the device to Gloria. The headline read, “Champion Gloria of Postwick and Klara of Ballonlea face Tower Boss Leon, Come Up Empty-Handed”.

“I’ve seen her around before!” Hop exclaimed, watching as Gloria skimmed through the article. “Do you know who she is?”

Gloria’s forehead wrinkled in surprise as she took in the information. _She’s in our year. Bede’s girl. Didn’t realize she’d made the trip up here this weekend!_

“Yeah, that’s Klara. I think she’s a Battle Techniques major at HU with us, first year,” Gloria handed the phone back to Hop. “She hangs around Bede a lot.”

Hop made a funny face at the mention of the gym leader.

“Well, I’m glad we didn’t run into her today, then,” he muttered, going back to his Chatter feed. “Anyone who’d be friends with _Bede_ is probably a right git themselves.”

Something about Hop’s comment didn’t sit right with Gloria.

“Why’d you say that? Klara seems alright. Always quiet in class, but it wouldn’t hurt to make a new friend.” Gloria’s words must have come out a bit harsh as Hop had shut off his phone screen and turned to face her.

“You’ve been defending that toxic crowd quite a bit lately, haven’t you?” The lack of warmth in Hop’s voice took Gloria off guard. “I swear, Glor, you’re too nice. You don’t have to be _everyone’s_ friend.”

“I’m _not_ everyone’s friend, Hop. I don’t even talk to Bede, or Klara, and I don’t hang out with anyone outside our little circle! But I don’t see the need to _hate_ them, no matter what happened during the gym challenge!” Gloria felt her voice beginning to sharpen with anger, so she tried to rein in her feelings after she spoke.

Hop sighed, eyes dull as if he’d just been defeated in battle.

“Old grudges die hard, I guess.” He stood up from the couch and began to trudge into the bedroom, not looking back over his shoulder.

Gloria stared after him for a moment, blinking in disbelief. _I guess so. Every time I mention Bede, Hop gets like this. We’ve all changed since the gym challenge, so why can’t he just forgive and forget?_

* * *

Gloria and Hop sat together in silence as the remaining passengers to Hammerlocke boarded the train. The trainers were both still exhausted from the Battle Tower and the tension between them from the night before still lingered in the air.

Just before the train was about to get going, a light tapping on the door to their compartment made Hop and Gloria quickly look up from their phones.

“I’ll get it,” the Champion offered, quickly standing up and pulling the door open. Just outside the threshold stood a girl slightly taller than Gloria, a mane of shiny pink hair just brushing the shoulders of a deep purple jacket. Her dark eyes glittered with excitement as she spoke.

“Hi… Gloria? Hop?” the girl’s voice resembled the sweet alto warble of a Roserade, something very unique to the trainers’ ears. “Er… I can’t seem to find an open seat, do you think…” she trailed off as she noticed Hop’s stoic glare, then looked back up at Gloria, who seemed more intrigued than anything. “…I could sit with you two?”

Gloria didn’t ask for input from Hop before she replied.

“Of course! Here, I’ll move my bag, you can sit next to me.”

The newcomer graciously bowed her head to Gloria and promptly sat down beside the Champion, a sudden silence filling every crevice of the compartment.

“O-oh, forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Klara. I think we go to school together…?”

“No worries, Klara. I’ve seen you around, in classes and, uh, just, around.” Gloria didn’t want to admit she’d been lurking on the girl’s social media page just a few days prior. “We also heard about how well you did at the Tower yesterday!” she gave a quick warning glance to Hop, who nodded in agreement.

“Oh! Well, I wouldn’t say I did _that_ well. Once I’d gotten to Leon, that was about it for me. My whole team was done for in no time.”

Gloria secretly felt pride at knowing she’d outdone the other trainer, then internal panic took hold as she noticed Hop’s increasingly red complexion.

“I think just getting to face Lee, er, Leon is something to be proud of.” Hop finally spoke, seeming to choke on the words.

“I suppose you’re right,” Klara agreed, smiling warmly at Hop. “You’re the trainer who fought Gloria last in the semi-finals this summer, right?”

Hop suddenly sat up straighter, blinking a bit before answering.

“Y-yeah, that was me.” He spoke stronger now, and Gloria wondered if he was surprised at not being referred to as Leon’s brother for once.

Klara smiled a bit wider then seemed to temper her excitement, brushing a strand of pink hair away from her face.

“That Snorlax of yours was sickeningly strong! From that Pokémon alone I could tell just how great of a strategizer you are.”

“Jeez, thanks!”

Gloria smiled to herself as Klara and Hop continued talking about the gym challenge, relieved to see Hop finally warming up to the trainer he’d so recently referred to as “probably a right git”. She spent a while scrolling through her camera roll, deleting some old photos and memes she didn’t need anymore. Something Hop said after a lull in conversation however made Gloria focus in on what her fellow travelers were saying.

“So… your profile here says you’re from Ballonlea,” Hop inquired as he showed his phone screen to Klara. “What’s that like?”

“Oh, it’s a nice place. In fact, my family wanted me to attend the Ballonlea Arts School instead of HU, but after seeing this year’s gym challenge, I really wanted to learn as much as I could about battles.” Klara mused out loud, sparing no detail in telling her story. “I train poison-types, so being surrounded by fairy-types all the time wasn’t proving much of a challenge. Luckily, my training partner and I were both set on coming to Hammerlocke, and… now look at me! I faced _Leon_ this weekend, my heart is still pounding!”

Gloria’s ears perked up even more at the words “training partner.” Hoping it hadn’t seemed like she’d been eavesdropping, she rejoined the conversation.

“Oh, who’s your training partner? They a Techniques major?”

Luckily for the Champion, Klara seemed to enjoy answering her questions.

“No, no, Bede’s studying Pokémon Coordination-” Klara’s sentence abruptly cut off as Hop made a sound that sounded like a cross between a wheeze and a cough.

“Um… you okay, Hop?” she asked, not exactly sure if he’d been reacting to what she’d said or just accidentally inhaled his own spit. Gloria gave Hop a look that seemed to slice through him like Hyper Beam, as if saying, _you’d better cut that out and show some respect!_

“Fine, thanks,” he acted as if nothing had happened. “go on.”

“Well, Bede, the gym leader, you’ve both battled him, basically _begged_ Opal to let him come to HU. Now, Opal was dead-set on him majoring in theatre back in Ballonlea, but after all the tantrums he threw, she let him apply only on the condition that he enter the Coordination program.” Klara explained almost humorously. “He doesn’t like to talk about his feelings or deep thoughts too much, but Bede told me he wanted to come to HU to branch out a bit and meet new people who aren’t ‘woobatshit-crazy fairy ladies’, as he puts it. But… he hasn’t really done much of that yet.”

Gloria found herself looking out the window, lost in thought. She must have been speaking her thoughts rather than thinking them as Klara had answered her question out loud.

“Oh, heavens no, we’re just friends!” She exclaimed, framing her sentence with giggles. “After how many times I decimated that fairy boy with my poison team, I think he’d rather kiss a Grimmsnarl!”

Gloria chuckled a bit at the response, still wondering how that question had even slipped out of her own mouth. Before she could say anything else, the phone screen in her hand lit up with a new message. _Why’s Hop texting me_ now?

She opened the notification, wondering why he wasn’t just talking to her in person.

_Hop: what was THAT???_

Gloria looked up at Hop, raising an eyebrow.

_Hop: kind of a nosy question, dont u think?_

_Gloria: chill out._

The three trainers each kept to themselves for a while. Klara dozed off while listening to some music, Hop took pictures out the window, and Gloria decided to finally check her missed messages. There were even more since she’d looked at them on Friday.

_Okay, easy ones first._

_Mum: Good luck this weekend!_

_Mum: Heard about your match against Leon. Tough! You’ll get em next time._

Gloria thanked her mother before moving onto the next messages.

_Marnie: welp apparently Piers is in Wyndon for the weekend. So much for a family reunion. Tell him i say hi, wouldja?_

_Oops,_ Gloria thought to herself.

_Marnie: theres a karaoke sesh this mon night downtown, come with me?_

_Gloria: sure! Also srry, phone was off this weekend. U should call ur brother._

Now for the big one. There were nearly 40 messages from Raihan and multiple missed calls, so Gloria found herself skimming most of them. Some, however, stuck out more than others.

_Raihan: so when were ya gonna tell me about THAT?!_

_Raihan: oh I kno ur getting these u better answer me_

_Raihan: prolly spendin the evening with your “colleague” ya lil princess_

_Raihan: check ur damn phone_

_…_

_Raihan: i sure as hell can ghastly you since youve decided to ghastly me. dont call me when u need anythn_

_…_

_Raihan: yea good on u, usin me to train n tellin me u hadnt heard from lee what SHIT wow u DESERVE to lose tonite_

_Raihan: hahaha now u dont have me OR him to cry to how does it FEEL_

_…_

_Raihan: im sorry_

_Raihan: im still hurt but im sorry about what i said_

_Raihan: pls answer_

Gloria set her phone down on her lap, eyes unfocused. _What in the world was that?_

“Glor, you good? Looks like you’ve seen a Gengar in your shadow.” Hop’s more friendly tone had returned as he noticed how appalled the Champion looked.

“…Fine.” She simply stated, twitching slightly as her phone screen lit up again.

_Leon: 1 unread message_

Gloria sunk further into her seat, not having enough energy to deal with more than one conflict at a time. Curiosity getting the best of her, she opened the message.

_Leon: I’m sorry about what I said to you last night. I’ve been really goin through it recently but that doesn’t excuse my actions. Please call me as soon as you get the chance._

The Champion glowered at the text with tempered vitriol. What was with these men feeling like they could say anything to her, make her feel more useless than a Magikarp’s Splash, then come back around and say “sorry” like their original words didn’t mean anything?

Gloria powered down her phone once more and curled her legs up to her chest, feeling like a Blipbug helpless beneath a flock of screeching Corviknight.


	7. Trick Room

_Sunday Afternoon_

Gloria sat on a bench in one of Hammerlocke Castle’s many courtyards, watching distractedly as her Pokémon played outside of their Poké balls for the first time in, well, a long time.

This particular courtyard was more secluded than some of the others on campus, and on this particular day only Gloria and one of Hammerlocke’s gym trainers were spending time with their Pokémon there. The Champion had said hello to the trainer but kept to herself, watching Ancho kick up sparks with the Torkoal it was hanging out with.

Foo the Lucario was lost in meditation on a small bridge that went over the manmade stream running through the courtyard, which she tended to do after tough battles. Chariot, Gloria’s fierce Corviknight was serenely settled in a tree while Nori the Thievul dozed below it. Splat, of course, was playing in the water, in high sprits as always. But Gloria’s Orbeetle would not leave its spot on the Champion’s lap.

“Gio, go play,” Gloria urged the Pokémon distractedly while stroking its wings, “or at least join Foo, that might be relaxing.”

The psychic ladybug further curled its body under its wings in protest. The blue spots on Gio’s wings lit up faintly, obviously being able to detect its trainer’s stormy mood.

“Fine, be like that. With how busy I’ll be this week, we won’t be outside much. This might be your last chance for a while.”

Gio was the only Pokémon on Gloria’s mainstay team that she could have out in her dorm room, as the rest of them were simply too big or destructive. Orbeetle as a species weren’t known for being cuddly, but Gio’s personality was clingier than most. He was also a stubborn genius and borderline mind-reader, so yes, he was _definitely_ an Orbeetle.

The gym trainer’s Drakloak had made it over to Splat, seemingly interested in what the fossil dragon was doing. Splat playfully spit some water at the Drakloak, who made a sound that resembled a laugh and splashed the Champion’s Pokémon in return.

“You’re so antisocial,” Gloria cooed at Gio, giving up on urging him to play as she took her Rotom phone out of her pocket. The text from Leon she’d received on the train was still marked as unread and she hadn’t even bothered responding to Raihan yet. _I know it’s gonna be up to me to fix this mess… ain’t that just lovely._

Out of the corner of her eye, Gloria detected the movement of dark red fur. She turned towards it and saw Nori had gotten up from his nap and was stretching his legs. The Champion waved at her Thievul to catch his eye, which Nori noticed right away. The Pokémon’s eyes lit up as he began racing across the short grass towards his trainer, tongue lolling out from the side of his mouth.

“Oh!” Gloria shouted, picking up Gio and setting him down on the bench as she stood up. “C’mere, boy!” She outstretched her arms as Nori sprinted up to her and leaped, bowling the Champion over and covering her face with a series of energetic licks.

“Hey, cut it out!” she laughed, covering her face from the Thievul’s enthusiastic play-attacks. Nori retracted his tongue and tipped his head to one side, eyes shimmering with slight worry.

“Aw, it’s fine, mate. I’m not cross with ya.” The Pokémon blinked happily and headbutted its trainer’s chest, wanting to play more.

“Hmm, how about we play ball? I bet some of the others would join us.” Nori nodded excitedly as Gloria made a throwing motion with her right arm.

The Champion enjoyed the rest of her afternoon with her Pokémon, glad to have some quality time with them, successfully avoiding the nagging feeling at the back of her mind for most of the day.

* * *

Gloria sat on her bed, alone in the dorm as Marnie was out studying in one of the castle’s many libraries. The Champion also had much homework to finish, but she figured she couldn’t hide from the problems at hand any longer.

She held the phone up to her right ear, trying to will her hand to stop shaking. Gloria hated few things more than confrontation, which made her status as a public figure exceedingly difficult. It rang four times, seeming like the call was going to go to voicemail, until the Champion heard a _click_ as Leon picked up.

“’Ello?”

“Hi, Leon. I saw your message earlier, but I had some stuff to attend to once I got back to Hammerlocke.”

“Oh, right.” The man’s voice was still as fatigued as it had been the night before, even less impactful as usual over the phone call.

“Erm…” Gloria broke the silence, confused as to why Leon hadn’t continued speaking, “You said you wanted to talk?”

She heard a muffled cough at the other end of the line before he replied.

“Yeah, I did. So… I really don’t know what got into me last night. I… don’t think you’re a bad trainer, you battled really well.” Gloria rolled her eyes, stopping herself before she could tell Leon how much she’d wept after their altercation.

“Do you really think you can just make this all okay by saying sorry through a phone call?” she muttered instead, choking on the emotion crawling into her voice. “You could have found me in Wyndon last night. Or just not have said anything at all. You didn’t even see your own brother off!”

There was a bit of silence and Gloria thought the former Champion had hung up on her. Before she could check the call status, Leon finally spoke.

“No, you’re right. I haven’t been handling anything correctly since losing the championship match.” He admitted. Gloria felt a bit of satisfaction that he’d acknowledged his behavior but pressed him further.

“I do think you’re right in that you should have gotten Raihan’s help instead of mine, or at least just kept my involvement under wraps for good. You know he’s sent me over forty messages this weekend, half of them degrading me and accusing us of doing, well, a lot of things behind his back? You’ve hurt a lot of your friends lately.”

“I’m not surprised. I told you, Raihan and I talked for hours Friday night. He’s right to be upset, and you know how he gets when-”

“Are you defending how he treated me?!”

“No, no, of course not. But… Glor, you need to go see him. He’s heard the truth from me but won’t believe it ‘til you corroborate. He… he won’t believe either of us is sorry unless we both make it clear.”

Gloria flopped back onto her pillow, resisting the urge to scream. _This isn’t my fault_ or _my responsibility!_

“This isn’t my fault, Leon. You know it.”

“Raihan told me you made it seem like you hadn’t heard from me in weeks all while we were working on Tower preparations.”

The Champion still knew this mess wasn’t her doing, but she decided to give in for the sake of civility between the League members.

“That’s true. I’ll try getting ahold of him tonight.”

“In person would be much better, you know how he is.”

_Yes, Leon, I_ do _know how he is when he gets me alone. It usually sparks fear in me._

* * *

Gloria reread the last message Raihan had sent her.

_Raihan: pls answer_

The Champion finally obliged and hit the “call” button, laying on her side and facing the wall as the phone rang. _Four times, Five times…_

“’Allo, Gym Leader Raihan here. I must’ve lost me phone or somethin’, ‘cause I can’t seem to answer ya right now-”

Gloria hung up as she realized the call had gone to voicemail. _Never heard that before. He’s always got his phone on him, wonder what’s up. Ah, well, I tried._ The Champion then opened up Chatter to mindlessly scroll through the day’s content.

As if the stars had aligned, one of the first posts that came up on her timeline was a Chatter from Raihan himself, the timestamp reading “15 min ago”. It was a picture of himself with the caption “#NewProfilePic (Flygon emoji)”.

Gloria opened the picture. _Didn’t he_ just _change his profile photo a few days ago?_ It was a selfie, of course, of Raihan on the couch of his living room, pouting at the camera as his Flygon did the same.

_Drama queen,_ Gloria thought with annoyance before hatching what was either a very smart or very, very stupid idea. _If he just took and posted that photo in his living room, he’s probably home… You win, Leon, I’ll see him in person if it means fixing your mess._

After hurriedly changing into leggings and an oversized hoodie, Gloria was about to head out of her room when instead Marnie arrived, opening the door and walking in without notice.

“Oh, headin’ out?” She asked, walking past Gloria to her desk to set down her backpack. She looked at the clock which read 9:43pm “It’s quite late.”

Gloria waited for their door to close before answering, deciding that in light of recent events, telling her friends the truth was the way to go in most situations.

“Yeah, er, I have to go talk to Raihan about something,” she answered, her voice low in case anyone happened to be out in the hallway. The room’s door was notorious for being the opposite of soundproof, which was discovered when Gloria and Marnie had received noise complaints for blasting metal music after 10pm.

“You really couldn’t just text him?” Marnie inquired, facing her roommate with a disapproving look. “It’s Sunday night, and _you_ still have work to do. Tell him to go take a cold shower instead.”

“I promise, I swear on me mum, it’s not that!” Gloria insisted, wanting to hurry and leave so she was sure he was at home. “And look at me, you think I’d wear this to… never mind. I have to smooth over what happened this weekend… those texts I showed you, remember?”

Marnie gave in, beginning to retrieve her sleep clothes from her dresser while she spoke.

“Just don’t be long. I ‘on’t wanna hear you complainin’ tomorrow about how late’cha had to stay up, or Arceus forbid, not finishin’ the homework.”

* * *

Since the sun had long been set, Gloria found it much easier to sneak around town without being noticed. She had purposely worn clothing she rarely wore in public and had accessorized with a beanie, staying warm while obscuring her identity.

Raihan’s place wasn’t far from the HU campus; in fact, it was nearly an offshoot of the castle itself. The gym leader was actually a descendant of the Hammerlocke family and could have inherited the University if he’d so desired, but he left that up to his second cousin who was the current chancellor of the school.

His “house” was a small manor in comparison to the surrounding castles and mansions, but it was still way too much for a single guy in his twenties. The stained-glass panels that bordered the double doors shone with a warm glow, revealing that there were lights on inside. Gloria found herself standing around on his doorstep for a while, suddenly not sure if she’d made the right decision in visiting. _The last time I was here… oh, hell…_ The Champion couldn’t stifle the rush of embarrassment that made her face burn and took a few moments to settle down before finally knocking on the door. The heavy, exceedingly tall double doors were adorned with a knocker that took the form of a dragon, almost identical to the symbol of the Hammerlocke Gym. It was a nice touch, even Gloria would admit that.

After about a minute of waiting, Gloria knocked once more, this time a bit louder.

“Raihan, I know you’re home,” she raised her voice so it could be heard through the door. Just as the words left her lips, one of the doors creaked open.

“What are _you_ doing here?” a low voice growled. Gloria could see a pair of sea-blue eyes peering at her from through the opening.

“You said you wanted to talk, I’m here to talk.” She answered bluntly. Raihan then opened the door just wide enough so that the Champion could step inside.

For someone as chaotic as Raihan, his house was rather tidy and elegant. It had always made Gloria wonder if he actually had some respect for the estate he’d inherited, or if he just had “guests” over more frequently than most… She pushed the thought away, remembering how disheveled the upstairs always was compared to the foyer she now stood in. The air in the large dwelling was usually quite pleasant and cozy, but that night it smelled as if something had been badly burned.

“Er…” Gloria started, slowly taking off her hat, coat and boots, setting them beside the door. “You burnin’ something?”

Raihan didn’t look back at her as he walked away towards the living room, which Gloria took as a cue to follow.

“Left my pizza rolls in the oven too long,” he muttered, “my mind hasn’t been so clear these past few days.”

Normally Gloria would have chuckled at such a remark, but she was deep in thought as she followed Raihan through his house. He was dressed in a gray sweater and black sweatpants she knew he liked to sleep in and his hair was disheveled, almost like he’d been napping all day. Gloria noticed there was an unusual amount of papers scattered everywhere as they went down the hallway and the Champion could’ve sworn she’d noticed an old photo album spread out on one of the hall tables.

In the living room, Raihan made no haste in taking a seat on the couch, his eyes suggesting Gloria sit across from him on a well-worn living chair.

The ceiling of the room was marvelous, nearly twenty feet high. Large windows stretched up the outer wall towards the ceiling, letting in the faint glow of moonlight from behind the house. The only interior light shone from the adjacent kitchen, casting a melancholic glow over the wall of the living room. A coat of arms designed to look like a fearsome Hydreigon gleamed in the low light directly behind the couch Raihan was seated at, radiating an aura of intimidation.

Gloria sat down and looked at her feet for a moment. Her Scorbunny socks must have made her look ridiculous at a time like this.

“Listen… I’m sorry about all of this,” she began, not really knowing what to say, “I know Leon talked to you, but I didn’t make anything better by lying to you.”

Raihan was staring across the coffee table at her, his expression unreadable.

“Hm. A’ight. You… y’know if you’d been honest with me Thursday night, we wouldn’t be here.”

“If _you_ would have reacted like a rational human being, we wouldn’t be here!” Gloria snapped, words spilling out faster than she could realize what she was saying.

Raihan cocked an eyebrow, not giving his emotions away.

“I already know the two of you don’t take me seriously, no need to rub it in.” He muttered coolly.

Gloria suddenly regretted her outburst. Even though his voice was flat, she could tell Raihan was seriously hurt.

“Rai…” she finally saw the gym leader flinch at the pet name she’d accidentally let slip for the first time in ages. “There’s no reason to believe that.”

He looked away for a second, then continued to speak while staring at the floor.

“You didn’t even think I could handle knowing he’d picked you over me. Lied to me, like I was a lil’ kid or somethin’. First Leon did away with me by banning him from his project, then you ended up usin’ me for target practice.” The tempered anger seeping into Raihan’s voice made Gloria sink further back into the chair.

“I thought you _wanted_ to train with me. I asked you because you’re a _great trainer._ And what do you mean, ‘banned’? You could head up to Wyndon any time and challenge the Tower-”

“You don’t get it, do ya? You of all people should know that Battle Towers all over the place have a doubles league, don’tcha? That’s what Leon told me way back when, that he’d sign me on to team up for doubles with ‘im! He didn’t ever mention that?”

Realization sunk in as Gloria processed his words. Raihan was correct- most battle facilities, all Battle Towers, in fact, had a separate doubles league that challengers could take on. And of course, Raihan was Galar’s double battle specialist.

“That… that’s a question for Leon, not me,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think of that…”

“Of course ya didn’t. No one ever thinks of me ‘til they need to use me for somethin’.”

“Well, I asked you to be my representative for the Champions’ Summit, didn’t I? Or did you forget about that one?”

Raihan didn’t respond, seemingly thinking about something else.

“Nothin’ was stopping me from choosing Leon over you. In fact, he has more experience than the both of us. Maybe I chose wrong if you aren’t going to take this seriously.”

“I _do_ take it seriously,” Raihan growled, suddenly glaring at the Champion with intensity, “I just feel like you gave me something to do ‘cause ya felt sorry for me. It really seems like it, especially with what’cha just said.”

Gloria’s eyes wandered sporadically as her heartbeat sped up with each of Raihan’s words. She couldn’t take his assumptions any longer.

“D’ya know why I picked you, Raihan? It’s because you’re _you._ You’re charismatic, powerful, and damn good at running your Gym. I don’t know where you get this inferiority complex, all of Galar is in love with you.” She thanked the low lighting for hiding the half-furious, half-longing blush tinging her cheeks. “Leaders like you are in high demand _everywhere._ I didn’t want to tell you this yet, but folks from Johto and Hoenn have contacted me about wanting to sponsor you for their gym challenges.” Gloria was standing up now, close to shouting. “And don’t even get me _started_ on ‘using’ you! All you’ve done since I moved to Hammerlocke is flash those _eyes_ at me every time you’re feelin’ lonely, taking me away from my friends and my studies just to… to…” The Champion couldn’t go on as she felt tears pricking her eyes. She sat back down, sniffling.

Raihan watched as the girl who’d just spilled her guts out to him curled up into herself, hiding her face behind her hands. He sighed inwardly, knowing everything she’d said was the truth.

“Hey. Come here.” He managed to say after a long silence, voice on the edge of breaking. Gloria looked up, strands of dark hair obscuring her now puffy eyes.

She hesitated for a moment then slowly rose from her place on the chair, stumbled across the floor over to the couch and lightly sat down beside Raihan.

“I’ve been a right jerk, haven’t I?” he muttered, looking down at the girl who refused to meet his gaze. He began to brush a strand of hair out of her face but was quickly met with Gloria slapping his hand away.

“Okay… look, I have a LOT of my own shit to work out, Glor. You know that more than anyone. I… I’m sorry for how I’ve treated ya. Truth is, I… really look up to you. Not literally, of course.” Raihan heard what could’ve been a chuckle from Gloria, whose head was buried in her arms which rested on the knees she’d curled up into her chest.

“I’m still pretty down about all this, but… I shouldn’t be takin’ it out on you. You’re…” he didn’t know exactly what to say, gently resting a hand on Gloria’s back, “er, you’re a really special, sweet girl.”

Gloria leaned into Raihan a bit, still keeping her head down.

“Erm… it’s a Sunday night, mate. You should probably head home and get some rest. Need a ride or anythin’?”

“No, I’ll be fine.” The Champion murmured, voice still muffled.

“Well then…” Raihan began as he slowly stood up, making sure he didn’t push Gloria over in the process. The sudden lack of warmth that’d been pressed up against his side made his heart sink. “I think… I think it might be best if we don’t see each other for a while. You have other training partners, right?”

“Yeah,” Gloria responded, finally lifting her head and getting up off the couch. Whatever emotion was a cross between disappointment and relief, that was what was rushing through her veins.

_For the first time in a while, I’d like to just stay a bit longer… but I can’t._


	8. Dream Eater

“As you can see in the chart on page thirty-eight of your textbooks, there are three basic types of abilities. They are self-affecting, targeted, and battlefield.”

Gloria struggled to keep her eyes open as the lecturer droned on about topics she was already more than comfortable with. _Yeah, yeah, man, don’t need a textbook to tell me that one._ She had a notebook and pencil at the ready but hadn’t yet written anything down for the first ten minutes of class.

“In a double battle, one must be especially strategic with battlefield abilities such as Sand Stream or Snow Warning…”

The Champion sat alone in the last row of that particular lecture, half because none of her close friends were in the class and also since she didn’t want anyone to see her on the verge of crashing. Gloria had been up til nearly 3am the previous night finishing her homework, barely making it to the 8am class she was currently in, Doubles Techniques. It was an elective, not required for her degree program, so the class was made up of random students of various years and majors.

“Such abilities can either work in tandem with your team’s strategies if you plan accordingly, or on the other hand, serve as a disadvantage if you don’t pay attention to each ability’s effect.”

Gloria distractedly ran her fingers through her hair, detangling the pieces that framed her face in an attempt to stay awake. That morning, she’d barely had time to brush her teeth and throw on the jeans and hoodie she was currently wearing before having to run to class. The feat had taken what little energy Gloria had left out of her, leaving her feeling like a popped Drifloon. It didn’t help that she was being forced to listen to a lecture on double battles after the touchy conversation that had transpired the night before.

_C’mon, just stay awake! I’ll try to grab a coffee before my next class…_

“…the ability Neutralizing Gas… Galar region…” the words slowly became unintelligible as Gloria began to slip in and out of consciousness, her eyes flickering shut as she rested her cheek on the knuckles of her right hand.

Sparkles and broken light began to flicker at the edges of Gloria’s vision, whispering softly in the darkness. It felt like she was floating through a space-like void, nothing to think about but the strange sounds and sights before her. The voices were incoherent, speaking quickly and out of sync with one another, gradually growing louder until she could just barely pick out the sound of her own name.

“Hey, Gloria… Gloria. Gloria. Hey…”

Her eyes suddenly flickered open, blinking against the suddenly harsh light of the lecture hall.

“Class is over,” the voice she’d picked out among the many in her dream was suddenly in the waking world, apparently right beside her. She jerked her head to the side and saw the Ballonlea gym leader himself looking down at her, seemingly puzzled.

“O-oh, shoot,” she stumbled over her words, hurriedly throwing her class materials back into her bookbag, standing up so quickly after waking up that she nearly toppled over. Gloria noticed that the lecture hall was already completely empty aside from the two of them. “Er, thanks, Bede.” _He probably thinks I’m so stupid. And I’m supposed to be his superior._

The young man rolled his eyes and turned away. “Yeah, no problem.”

Gloria stood still for a few moments as he walked away, still mentally waking up a bit. _Wait… I slept through that whole class!_

“Hey, wait!” she hurried after Bede, who’d just left the classroom. Gloria barreled through the doors and out into the hallway, hoping desperately that she could catch up to him.

“Huh? Oh, it’s you.”

Gloria turned around toward the sudden remark; Bede had begun to leave in the opposite direction but hadn’t gotten far. She ran up to him, trying to disguise her heavy breathing.

“Yeah, uh, sorry to stop you like this, but…” the Champion looked up at him, not being able to place the particular vibe he was giving off that day. “…can I please have your notes from class? I missed, like, everything.”

Bede looked thoughtful for a moment, then spoke.

“I suppose so.”

“Great! I’ll just-”

“Not so fast,” he interrupted, his voice suddenly lower. “I need you to do something for me first.”

“Uh, what is it?” Gloria asked, alarms going off inside her head. Lately whenever someone asked her that question, it wasn’t ever something she’d normally want to do. _Not you, too…_

“Just follow me.” Bede ordered quickly, beckoning Gloria to comply as he started walking down the hallway, his strides unusually long in comparison to his just above-average height.

“Hey, slow down!” the Champion protested, her shortness and lack of rest making her an exceptionally slow walker that day. She followed Bede, wondering with exasperation why he couldn’t just let her snap a quick picture of the notes. With each turn down the castle’s halls, the lights grew dimmer and there were no more windows to cast sunlight inside, causing Gloria more worry with every step. They were heading into the innermost hallways of the castle, where mainly supply closets and a few offices were located.

Bede suddenly stopped in the middle of a deserted corridor, lit only by two lamps on either wall.

“What in blazes did’ya bring us over here for?” Gloria complained, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

“I figured you could tell me all about your battles this weekend,” Bede answered simply, Gloria recognizing a satisfied look on his face even in the hallway’s dim glow, “figured you wouldn’t just want anyone overhearing you.”

_Was Hop… right? Was Bede just after my strategies this whole time?_

“Dude. Just give me the damn notes,” her voice was raspy with fatigue as she began to reach for the gym leader’s backpack, only to be met with him quickly taking the bag off his shoulders and holding it just out of her reach.

“It’s not _my_ fault you slept through class.” Bede’s sudden attitude reminded Gloria of how insufferable he’d been during the gym challenge. _Has he really not changed a bit?_

“Fine. I’ll go ask someone else, then.” Gloria turned away from him, stomping back towards the more well-traveled hallways of the castle.

“W-wait!” Bede called after her, his voice breaking character completely. Gloria faced him again, impatience in her stance.

“For what?”

“…Listen, I… just wanted to hear about your weekend, remember?” Bede slung his bag across his shoulders once more, suddenly vulnerable. “And Klara told me she’d talked to you on the way home, and… er… she said my name came up?”

Gloria hid her shock, hoping the poison-type trainer hadn’t said too much about where their conversation about him had gone.

“Yeah, she said you were looking to branch out, make new friends or whatever.” Gloria replied flatly, tapping one foot with impatience. _If I’m late to class because of his meddling…_

Bede couldn’t make eye contact even through the darkness as he spoke.

“Well… that’s what I’m _trying_ to do here.”

_Um… what?_

“Yanno, demanding favors from me in a dark ol’ broom closet isn’t the best way to go about that.” Gloria stifled a giggle as Bede crossed his arms impatiently.

“You make it sound so much worse when you put it like that,” he mumbled, eyes on the floor.

“It isn’t the most glamorous thing even in context, mate. C’mon. I have another class soon and if you walk with me, I can tell ya all about my trip to Wyndon.”

* * *

“So what you’re saying is… if your Lucario simply had the focus sash, you would’ve beaten Leon?”

“That’s exactly what I’m sayin’! I’m still frustrated as all get out, especially since I’d switched her item for the leftovers right before battling that day.”

Gloria and Bede now stood in front of the door to the Champion’s next class, finishing up their conversation in the few minutes she had left before it started.

“With how easily I went down against you in the semifinals, I doubt I’d even be able to make it that far. You’re bloody mad.”

The Champion instantly noticed how Bede had complimented her skill right before calling her completely out of her mind. It was a change, no matter how slight.

“It’s so much fun, though! I’m heading back up this weekend-” Gloria cut herself off as she looked down at her watch. “Blimey, I’m gonna be late. Can I finally get those notes of yours?”

“Sure,” Bede’s tone had relaxed since earlier, a clear warmth present in how he’d opened up during the trainers’ long, enthusiastic conversation. “Y’know, just put your number in my phone, I’ll just send you a picture of my notebook later.” he quickly retrieved the phone from his jacket pocket, opening up a contact page and handing it over to Gloria.

“O-oh, yeah, that works too.” The Champion hurriedly typed her number in, labeling it as “Gloria :3”.

“You’d better hurry up and get to class. I won’t be there to save you this time.”

Gloria playfully elbowed Bede’s arm and smiled as she headed into the lecture hall, knowing she now had the energy to get through the rest of her day.

* * *

Gloria now sat in a large upholstered chair in the castle’s central library, taking a break from studying while Marnie sat next to her, hunched over an old wooden desk. The Champion had received a few notifications whilst working ahead on her homework for the week, her eyes lighting up a bit as she noticed Bede’s message.

_Took him long enough!_

_Bede: (image attachment: dt1notes1010) here’s my notes from the day. let me know if you cant read my handwriting._

Gloria opened the image attachment, expecting utter Torchic scratch, but Bede’s penmanship was a hell of a lot better than her own. He’d even accompanied his notes with little sketches of the Pokémon they must have learned about that day, which was more than impressive. She hurriedly added his number to her contacts, typing up a reply as a she moved to sit back at her desk beside Marnie.

_Gloria: oh thanks! I like the weezing you drew_ ^_^

The girl took receiving the notes as a cue to get started on copying them down in her own notebook, drawings and all. However, this proved quite distracting as Gloria kept receiving notifications as she referred to her phone screen, distracting her from the task at hand quite a bit. Just a few minutes after getting started, she’d already received a reply from Bede.

_Bede: no problem. and don’t mind the drawings, I was just a bit bored today_

_Gloria: dunno how you managed to do that and get all the notes, that lecture goes by so fast! i can never write everything down. and yea, all the drawings r great._

_Bede: I didn’t know you were one to take notes._

Gloria laughed out loud, her lack of sleep making her nearly delirious. The students seated near her turned to look, glaring in disapproval before turning back to their studies.

“Hey,” Marnie whispered, looking up from the paper she was writing. “If you’re gonna scroll through the funnies, mind doin’ it somewhere else?” although the girl’s words were severe, her eyes shone with worry for her exhausted roommate.

“Oh, sorry. Just got distracted.” Gloria scribbled down the last few lines of Bede’s notes, stifling another giggle as she crudely sketched out a Weezing, Hippowdon and Abomosnow beside her frantic handwriting. _Honestly, why’d it have to be those three? They’re all so complicated-looking._ She reached for her phone and snapped a quick picture of the page before sending it to Bede.

 _Gloria: (image attachment: 524828120) check out my drawings_ ;)

She scrolled mindlessly scrolled through Chatter a bit, liking a post about an upcoming match between Milo and Nessa. Bede responded to her message only a few moments later.

_Bede: looks like something an impidimp drew while blindfolded. still cute tho._

Gloria grinned and pocketed her phone before slamming her notebook shut, earning her a few more annoyed glances.

“Think I’m gonna head in for the night. Long week ahead, especially with our trip coming up.” The Champion winked at her roommate, hoping to sense some of Marnie’s old passion for battle.

“I’m just as excited as you are, mate,” she whispered, setting her pencil down. “But I’ve really gotta focus this week. Midterms weren’t too kind to me.”

“I getcha. Well don’t stay up too late, Marn, you know how I worry.” Gloria packed up her belongings and bestowed a classic noogie upon Marnie’s head, finally earning a smile from her before the Champion headed out of the library.

* * *

Gloria couldn’t get ready for bed fast enough. Her eyelids were as heavy as they’d been that morning, threatening to drag her into sleep before she even had the chance to change out of her day clothes.

After rushing through her nightly skincare routine, the Champion checked her phone one last time before going to sleep. She laid under the covers, no lights on besides the glow from the screen in front of her face. Gloria was surprised to see who’d tried to get ahold of her since she’d left the library just twenty minutes prior:

_Marnie: 1 unread message_

_Bede: 2 unread messages_

Gloria unlocked her phone, intrigued.

_Marnie: hey im gonna bring back some snacks from the 1F vending machine, want anything_

_Gloria: oooh dude get me a choccy bar for tomorrow that’d be baller_

_Marnie: please go to sleep I cant understand what ur sayin XD_

The champion smiled at her own use of silly language as she opened up the other conversation.

_Bede: (image attachment: raboot1)_

_Bede: drew this a few weeks ago. thought youd appreciate it_

Gloria quickly clicked on the image file and nearly leapt out of bed with joy as she recognized the second evolutionary stage of her partner Ancho fully realized in colored pencil. Bede’s drawing was both realistic and adorable, the Raboot’s fur a perfect representation of its real-life colors and texture. She definitely appreciated him for thinking to send it to her.

_Gloria: oh my ARCEUS that’s AMAZING! you are SO talented wth!!_

 _Bede: thank you_ :)

Before Gloria could type out a reply, she made the mistake of laying back into her pillow and closing her eyes for a split second. Before she knew what was happening, the girl had already slipped into a much-needed sleep, phone still in hand.

* * *

Marnie quietly opened the door to her room, backpack as well as a bag full of junk food in tow. The lights were off and Gloria was asleep, so the gym leader shut the door behind her as slowly as possible.

As her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, Marnie noticed a faint glow coming from Gloria’s bed.

_Huh… fell asleep with her phone on._ She reached for her roommate’s phone and went to turn the screen off, only hesitating when she noticed the conversation on the screen.

_Well that’s a nice drawing… huh? Bede sent her this?_ Marnie glanced at Gloria’s sleeping form with confusion before shutting the screen off and setting the device down on the Champion’s bedside table.

_Gloria, texting_ him _… how strange._

* * *

Bede smiled softly at the sketch he’d just finished, admiring his work for a moment before finally putting away the warm-toned colored pencils he’d used for the Raboot. He closed the pencil box and stored it neatly in the top drawer of his desk, situated in the far corner of his apartment’s living room. The gym leader eyed the pile of unfinished homework he’d shoved to the side in favor of the drawing, deciding he could catch up on it if he woke up early enough the next morning.

Before shutting the desk light off, Bede leaned down to pet his Sylveon who was headbutting his shin, desperate for affection before its trainer headed off to bed.

“Vera, I already spent so much time with you today. So needy, tsk tsk.” Bede strode over to the couch and sat down, retrieving his phone from his pocket as he did so. His face softened further as he saw the notification from Gloria.

_Gloria :3 - oh my ARCEUS that’s AMAZING! you are SO talented wth!!_

Talented? That wasn’t something he heard often. Bede had probably been called talented only as many times as he could count on one Sylveon paw.

_Bede - thank you_ :)

An idea surfaced in the gym leader’s drowsy thoughts, something he could try if he wanted an excuse to talk to Gloria again the next day.

_Bede - i can give you the hard copy of that drawing tomorrow in class, if you want._

He locked his phone screen immediately after hitting send, distracting himself from waiting on a reply by getting ready for bed. Once he’d cleaned up and Vera was cuddled up in her bed beside the couch, Bede retrieved his phone from the side table and headed into his room. He flopped down onto the faux-Wooloo comforter, sinking into the memory foam at the end of yet another long, lonely day. Turning his screen back on, the corners of his mouth turned ever-so-slightly downward at the lack of new notifications.

_That’s alright. Hope she’s finally getting the sleep she deserves._


	9. Disarming Voice

_Monday, October 21_

Gloria leaned over her desk, desperately trying to focus on her homework. Her second weekend at the Battle Tower hadn’t gone nearly as well as she’d hoped, but luckily, the champion was in good company.

Gloria, Hop and Marnie had made the trip up to Wyndon together that past weekend, staying over through Friday and Saturday nights and heading back to Hammerlocke on Sunday morning as the two returners had done previously. Either the Tower trainers that weekend were stronger than the first go or the challengers just weren’t bringing their A-Game, because not a single trainer had made it all the way to Leon.

The Champion had decided to study alone in her room the following week as the questions she’d been getting from her classmates were already obnoxious enough during normal class hours; she wanted to avoid talking about her losses as much as possible. But with Marnie and Hop (who tended to keep Gloria on task) both in the main library downstairs, her motivation was completely out the window.

The girl picked up her phone every time the screen lit up with a notification, repeatedly putting her pencil down every five minutes to check her social media or messages. After about a half hour of this rinse and repeat, Gloria decided to throw her phone onto her bed and out of reach so she could focus.

_Okay. Problem number 2. You are using a level 45 Gastrodon against a Centiskorch (any level) with a Special Defense stat of 90. You decide to use a special water-type move with base power 60, your Special Attack stat being 92. How much damage does the move deal? Assume no critical hit or stat buffs/debuffs on either Pokémon._

_Hm, I guess I’d better plug it into the formula in my notes. Okay… ((2A/5+2)*B*C)/D)/50)+2)*X)*Y/10)*Z)/255. Wait, what do all these letters stand for? Oh, shoot… A means level, right? Er… I don’t know any of the other ones._

Gloria stared at the worksheet for a while, trying to visualize the PowerPoint slides they’d gone over in lecture earlier that day. She eyed the cell phone on her bed, wanting to find the equation online, but knew she’d be sucked back into social media.

_I should just suck it up and go study with Marnie and Hop… but then everyone else will be so distracting!_ The Champion wondered if she should text one of the two friends about the material but quickly remembered that neither of them kept their phones handy while studying.

She leaned back into her desk chair and sighed, head falling back to stare at the ceiling. Gloria spun around a bit at her desk contemplating what to do until her eyes fell on the piece of drawing paper carefully taped to the wall above her desk. She sat back upright again, eyes softening as she admired the colored pencil rendition of Raboot that Bede had given to her after one of their classes the previous week. It was one of the only decorations Gloria had up in her small, shared room.

_I could text Bede,_ she thought suddenly, hopping up off the swivel chair and walking over to the bed, picking up her phone. _I know he isn’t in Statistics this semester but he’s so good at everything, he could probably help._ The device felt heavy in Gloria’s hands as she debated the notion in her head, knowing almost for certain that Bede had the ability to help her but also how easily annoyed he could be. _I wouldn’t want to interrupt whatever he’s up to, either, but…_ Gloria looked down at her now-opened message log with the gym leader, fixated upon the profile picture she’d set for him when they’d talked about the DB1 notes the previous week. It was the one he’d used on Chatter, which he still hadn’t posted on yet.

_It won’t hurt to ask. This stuff is easy to explain over text, not like it’d take much of his time._

_Gloria: hey mate, im having some homework troubles tonite. Equations from stats class arnt making any sense, u know anything abt the topic?_

She quickly hit send, turned on her ringer and set the phone down again, heading back over to her desk to sit down and _try_ to remember what those meaningless variables meant.

_A is damage, I know that for sure… since B is multiplied by C, I’m guessing one of them is the move’s power and the other is an attack stat…_ Gloria scribbled in her notes, trying to decode the equation before even attempting Problem 2.

_Bzzt!_ Her phone buzzed and Gloria leapt up, racing to check her messages.

_Oh. Just an email from the University._ Having notification sounds on definitely resulted in many a false alarm. As Gloria was about to return to her desk once more, her phone buzzed again.

_It’s Bede! That was… fast._

_Bede: oh, hi. yah i know a bit of that stuff. just fundies tho, whats the equation/s?_

_Gloria: lol whats fundies mean_

_Bede: fundamentals,,_

_Gloria: o right ha. okay so its the damage equation on the first page of my hw, havent gotten to the second page. I just dont kno what all the variables mean pls help ;-;_

_Bede: aye yea I know that. where r u?_

Gloria blinked a bit at the message before composing a response.

_Gloria: wym? In the material or irl? u can just explain it to me over text, I can send pictures of the hw if need be_

_Bede: irl, I can explain it better in person_

_Gloria: uhhhh im in my room im trying to avoid ppl today_

_Bede: u live in the dorms right?_

_Gloria: ..yea?_

_Bede: ok perfect do u think u can meet me in the presidential library_

_Gloria: the what now?!_

_Bede: presidential library it’s on the second floor kind of near where we went after doubles class that one day. hallway with the creepyass lighting_

_Gloria: im not sure I could get there by myself lol that sounds scary. Just text the stuff to me_

_Bede: my phone signal is weak in here :/_

_Gloria: but… ur messages are comin thru just fine :// dude I just dont wanna see ppl_

_Bede: shush. Also u wont, this place is technically for grad students but any1 can use it, all three of the ppl who r here do not care about whatever battle drama went down this weekend_

_Gloria: you are so difficult, u know that? well im gonna get lost if I try to find u why don’t u just come and get me_

_Bede: ughhhhh effort_

_Gloria: BRUH thats how I feel rn_

_Bede: fair. Meet me in front of the south 2F elevator in 5 min?_

_Gloria: ok fiiiiine…_

The Champion quickly closed her notebook and threw it into her backpack beside the desk, making sure she’d also packed her worksheet and pencil case before zipping the bag back up. She looked in the mirror on the desk for a second, fixing her bangs before zipping up her hoodie and heading out the door.

By the time Gloria made it to the elevator and down to the second floor, Bede was already waiting for her, face smug as usual. He wore a white sweatshirt with the emblem of the Ballonlea gym on the front and black track pants that had a pink stripe down each leg.

“Took you long enough,”

“Wha…? It’s only been like two minutes!”

Bede rolled his eyes as he turned and began walking down the hallway directly across from the elevator, gesturing for Gloria to follow. She couldn’t help but notice how what Bede was wearing was different from what he usually wore to class; it seemed like he was always in some pretentious, scholarly getup, but now he looked like a normal college student.

_Even now I look so crummy in comparison,_ Gloria thought, pulling the fraying hem of her sweatshirt down as it began to ride up. _Maybe I’ll go shopping this weekend…_

The hallway seemed even dimmer than when the two of them had been there during the day, Gloria subconsciously walking a bit closer to Bede out of apprehension. Orange light from the few lamps danced across the stone walls like ghostly embers, following the pair as they went.

Just as it seemed like they were entering near-darkness (by this point Gloria was moments away from clinging to Bede’s arm), a golden light made itself present further down the hall.

“Almost there,” Bede mumbled, suddenly noticing how close the girl had drawn towards him. “What, you scared?” Gloria could hear the smirk in his voice even without seeing it.

“No,” Gloria huffed and created distance between the two once more, furrowing her brow in the low light. “I just didn’t wanna get lost.”

“It’s just a hallway.”

They finally came upon a large wooden door on the left side of the hallway, casting earthy light through its glass window. Gloria followed Bede into the library, eyes adjusting to the fading darkness before she could make sense of her surroundings.

Gloria had to prevent her jaw from dropping at the sight of the presidential library. The walls seemed to be at least three stories high, lined with endless shelves of books and rolling ladders, like something you’d see in a Kalosian fairytale. She looked directly up, eyes widening at the mural painted across the ceiling around a skylight that must have let in the best sunshine during the day. The painting depicted a swirling, starry sky adorned with five Pokémon of myth: Sinnoh’s Azelf, Uxie and Mesprit, Hoenn’s Jirachi, and the world’s own Mew.

“This is so. Bloody. Awesome.” Gloria whispered, keeping her voice as low as possible even though there were only about three other students working in the section of the library they were in. Bede led her to a long table, empty aside from the desk lamps and his own backpack on one of the leather-seated chairs. The table was so long that Gloria was relieved she’d seen where Bede had been working before following him there – she wanted to sit across from him and would’ve rather jumped over the table than walked all the way around again. Luckily, that wasn’t necessary.

“Alright, you,” Bede began as he set his bag on the floor and sat down, the false exhasperation in his speech not quite masking the amusement glimmering in his violet eyes. “What have we got to work on tonight?”

“Just math stuff. I didn’t quite get all the components of the damage equation in class…” Gloria unzipped her backpack and shuffled around until she’d retrieved her homework, class notes and a pencil. Once she’d set the materials down on the wooden desk, she finally looked up at Bede.

“Oi!!! Since when do you got four eyes?!”

Bede had since put on a pair of thin-framed reading glasses, somehow still achieving the snooty student vibe even while in what Gloria could consider pajamas.

“Ah, shut it. They’re just reading glasses. Let me see what you’ve-”

“Reading glasses?! You’re what, nineteen?”

“Twenty. Anyway, what have you-”

“DUDE, STILL!!!”

Gloria’s voice had become a bit louder than a whisper, yet no one around was in close enough proximity to be bothered. She tried to rein it in anyway.

“You’re already near-sighted?!” her voice was now back to a whisper-shout.

“Just a bit, will you let me live?” Bede’s eyelids drooped in genuine annoyance this time, pupils growing dull in the shadow before lighting up a bit once more. “Hurry up and get on with it before I fall asleep.”

“Okay, so… here’s the word problem. And here’s the equation I have in my notes. I know A is the level of my Pokémon, but… I kinda forgot everything else.” Gloria indicated each point on the worksheet and in her notes, sliding them across the table to Bede. He put a finger to one of his temples as he read the problem as if he were using telekenisis.

_I wish I looked that smart while doing my work…_ Gloria looked down at her lap until Bede finally broke the silence.

“Oh, yeah, this is mad easy. Take back your notes and write all this down.” Bede passed the notebook back to Gloria before going into a whirlwind explanation.

“You were right, A is the Gastrodon’s level. In this equation, B is your Attack or Special Attack stat, and in this case, it’ll be Special Attack. C is the move’s power, which is 60…”

Gloria hurriedly made a variables key in the margin of her notes as Bede continued.

“…Then comes D, which-”

“...haha… get it…” Gloria covered her grin with one hand, her eyes doing all the laughing as Bede’s expression grew not cold, just lukewarm.

“Very funny. Way to behave like a _champion._ Anyway, moving on…”

* * *

“I have a calculator app on my phone, why do I have to do all this math by hand?” Gloria complained after being walked through the equation step-by-step.

“No phones on tests, remember? They want you to show your work on this homework, so the prof probably expects the same for your exams.”

“That’s rubbish… I’m here to learn about battlin’, not stupid _math!”_

“Any trainer can battle,” Bede commented mundanely, his eyes shaded by lack of sleep. “But you’ll be the one to outdo them all with the power of math.”

Gloria began to plug the numbers into the damage equation, stopping mid-Gastrodon-level to shoot Bede an impish look.

“Whatever you say, grandma.”

“W-what did you just call me?!” Bede sputtered as if Gloria had just insulted his prized ribbon collection.

“You look like me gran in those frames, mate.” The Champion went back to her work, feigning obliviousness to the gym leader’s flustered reaction.

“How about now?” Gloria looked up at Bede’s remark, bemused at what he’d done. Her companion had pushed the glasses up and back above his forehead much like one would do with a pair of sunglasses while walking inside, his flowy bangs suddenly sticking up every-which way like a thundershocked Wooloo.

The champion couldn’t help but succumb to a fit of breathy giggles, folding her arms on the desk and laughing into them as to muffle the noise.

“B…. baaaaaahhh….” She looked up for a moment while mimicking the familiar Pokémon’s cry then collapsed again, eyes tearing up with laughter.

“I-if… If you don’t do your work, you’ll end up at McDonphan’s…” Bede scolded through his own accumulating hilarity, taking his phone out of his pocket to see just how ridiculous he looked.

“WE’RE GOING TO MCDONPHAN’S IF I DON’T DO MY WORK?!” Gloria burst out suddenly, a comedic grin plastered across her face.

The two classmates were nearly crying with hysteria, especially after Bede had thrown his phone down onto the desk after viewing his unfortunate reflection. Each time they looked up at one another, a whole new fit of giggles would ensue. Finally, Bede took the notorious spectacles off his head and set them down, fixing his hair only somewhat relucatantly. Gloria sat up in her chair, face flushed with chaotic energy. She made eye contact with Bede and they both laughed a bit once more, then Gloria’s eyes widened in awe.

“W-woah, mate, you _do_ look different. Just now, something’s changed.”

“Yeah, I fixed my hair. Er, I mean, my wool.”

Suppressing another laugh, Gloria shook her head.

“No, no, it’s not that. Did you put on makeup when I wasn’t looking?”

“Er, no…?”

“Colored contacts?”

Bede grotesquely pulled down both of his lower eyelids causing Gloria to flinch.

“No colored contacts, either.”

“OH! I’ve got it.” Gloria leaned in a bit, eyelids suddenly drooping in satisfaction. “You’re _smiling._ Not smirking. Smiling, with your _teeth.”_

Bede defensively leaned back, wiping his mouth with one sleeve as if he could whisk away his obvious enjoyment of the situation.

“No, I’m not,” he pointed at his mouth with both hands, struggling to keep his expression as unamused as possible.

“I can see the corners of your mouth straining.”

“No, you can’t!”

“I can, if I just get a little closer…” Gloria leaned in more, now well over halfway over the desk. Bede’s pupils dilated a bit before he could process what was happening, pushing his chair away from the desk as a knee-jerk reaction.

“J-just hurry up and finish, I don’t have all night.”

“Um… you don’t have to wait for me. I think I’ll be good to go for now.” Gloria sat back in her chair, brushing a strand of hair behind one ear and averting her gaze.

“Do you really think you’ll be able to find your way back? It’s dark. And late. And _scary._ ” Bede leaned back in, not knowing why he wanted to keep up the teasing game.

“I may be Leon's successor but that doesn’t mean I’m pants with directions!”

“Well, I’m staying. I got here first, anyway.”

* * *

Gloria and Bede stood in front of the elevator they’d met up in front of, both fighting off the day’s looming fatigue.

“Aren’t you going up?” Gloria inquired softly, holding the door open before it could close with Bede still outside.

“No, just wanted to see you off. I’m heading downstairs-” he gestured down the hallway towards one of the staircases, “- and outta the castle. I actually have my own apartment.”

“What, really? That’s wicked, especially for a first-year.” Gloria mused.

“Yeah, it’s nice. Anyway, I’ll be studying in the same spot tomorrow around seven, in case you want to say hi.”

The elevator began to beep angrily, which Gloria took as her cue to let the doors close.

“Hmm… I might take you up on that. Well, g’night, Wooloo!” Gloria’s giggle, now unbridled by library etiquette, echoed throughout the hallway.

“Night, you.” After the elevator doors closed and the girl’s voice disappeared, Bede’s own full laugh unabashedly sprang forth, splashing the cold gray walls with a color that was unfortunately oh-so-rare in nature.


	10. INTERLUDE: Where We've Been

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! It's been quite a while since this story has been updated. The official next chapter is in the works, but I've had a rough weekend personally, so here's a short little flashback to tide you all over until our next full-fledged installment. I originally did not want to write scenes like this into the story, I wanted to leave it up to my readers' interpretation, but I figured this might illustrate exactly what had been happening with our protagonist and her friends before the events of this story. This is a little on the riskier side when it comes to this story and my audience, but I wrote it in the middle of the night while trying to get my mind off some real life stuff, so this is what came of it. Enjoy, let me know what you think! :)

_Summer 2019. Day after a post-gym challenge party._

Gloria’s eyelids fluttered open, dawn light pouring in through the slightly parted curtains above the bed. _It’s still so early…_

She shifted closer to the warmth next to her, left arm finding its way around Raihan’s sleeping form, his skin smooth under her fingertips. Closing her eyes again, Gloria buried her face in the crook of his neck, smiling.

Just before she was able to fall back asleep, the gym leader beside her stirred slightly before sitting up, causing the Champion to fall back into the pillows.

“Hmm…?” Gloria’s eyes opened once more, watching as Raihan quietly slunk out of bed, running his fingers through unkempt hair. His muscles rippled elegantly in the cold light.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Raihan turned towards her with a thin smile, eyes not giving away his thoughts “Uh, I have to be at the gym by eight this morning. Sorry.”

Gloria sat up in the bed, a rush of cold air hitting her top half as the blankets slid off her. She hurriedly pulled them back up, somehow feeling vulnerable even after the previous night.

“Eight? What time is it now?”

Raihan, who was hastily getting dressed with whatever clothes he found draped over his desk chair, glanced at a digital clock Gloria hadn’t noticed until then.

“Seven-thirty… I gotta get going. I can drop you off at the station if you can get ready fast enough.”

Gloria sat still for a moment, then suddenly felt a terrible realization.

“Rai, the only thing I have to wear is my dress from the party last night.”

“You can wear one of my shirts if you want.”

Gloria watched as Raihan gestured to the pile of T-shirts that were three sizes too big for her about to topple off his dresser.

“…Maybe I could if you didn’t post everything you bought on InstaGranbull. Everyone who sees me will know where I’ve been, they know what you wear.”

“Oh, you don’t want them to know?”

“I have enough to worry about these days.”

* * *

“What time will Leon be here to pick you up?”

Gloria looked at her phone before responding, still keeping her eyes down on the screen as she spoke.

“He said he can make it to Hammerlocke by 8:30.”

“Okay. You can wait here, but Duraludon is gonna make sure you don’t steal my stuff.”

“I don’t want your weird collection of dragons’ teeth, mate.”

“Still.”

* * *

Leon looked straight ahead as he drove, his stern expression making him look five years older.

“Raihan couldn’t take you home himself?”

“He had gym stuff to take care of. You of all people should understand that.”

“Oh, I understand. He always has something else to ‘take care of’.”

Gloria looked out the window of Leon’s car, watching the landscape become hillier as they traveled south towards Postwick. The highway system in Galar was a lesser traveled form of transportation in the region, but as the (newly former) Champion, Leon had been able to afford his own car since he’d turned sixteen.

“Listen, Gloria… I’m glad you’re having fun, enjoying your early twenties, getting to- er – getting to know your league members better, but I’d be careful hanging around Raihan too much.”

“You act like you know from experience.”

Gloria saw Leon’s expression falter, but he still kept his eyes on the road.

“Let’s just say once you get too close with him, he turns into a Golisopod. Emergency Exit.”

“I see…”

“I just don’t want to see you get into the same mess I did. Let’s just say that.”

“Oh?”

Leon sighed, resting his chin in one hand as he drove with the other.

“Since you were new to the gym challenge this year, you didn’t really get to see how close Raihan and I were in previous years. I… don’t want to go into it, but some, er, stuff really went down right before the challenge started back up this year. Raihan’s a free agent, but I wouldn’t expect him to settle down any time soon.”

“Yeah, I kind of got that vibe this morning. But last night, he-”

“You don’t need to go into detail.”

“Oh, okay.”

* * *

“Thanks for the ride, Leon. I really appreciate it, like, seriously.”

“It’s no problem. It would’ve been a problem without GPS, but don’t worry about it. I was meaning to pay the family a visit soon anyway. Just remember what I told you or you’ll get some choice words from me next time.”

“Don’t worry, there won’t be a next time.”

* * *

Regrettably, dear reader, there were definitely a few “next times”.


	11. Technician and the Magic Guard VS. Moody and the Infiltrator

“Dude. Why do you always have to sit at the end of the row? Climbing over you every other day is pants,” Gloria scoffed as she just barely managed to squeeze past Bede who was already seated in the lecture hall, early as usual. She slumped down into the seat beside him with an impatient huff.

“I’m a lefty, or did you forget? Hm.” Bede propped his elbow up onto the fold-out desk attached to the farthest left seat in the row, one of the only left-handed desks in the entire hall. “Check your privilege.” He held his chin between his thumb and index finger, sticking out his tongue mockingly.

“Whatever! I only agreed to sit with you because you’re the only person I talk to in this class… or did you forget?” Gloria smirked victoriously, earning an eye-roll from Bede.

“You just need me to keep you awake. All Champions are so daft, so reliant on-”

“Oh, cut it out. You were being cheeky at first, now you’re just getting on my nerves.”

“You wouldn’t be sitting with me if you didn’t like it,” the gym leader teased with half-lidded violet eyes.

Gloria finally shifted her glance towards Bede again, trying not to crack a smile. From the characteristic twisting of the corners of his mouth, she could tell her newly-acquainted study buddy was fighting the same urge.

“You’re the one who had the idea first… OR DID YOU FORGET?” Gloria leaned in toward Bede, eyebrows nearly leaping off her forehead.

“Okay, okay, you got me,” he looked away and leaned back into himself, lips parting ever-so-slightly in amusement. “If you think I was serious about the whole Champion thing, well, THAT would make you daft.”

“Wow, Bede! Girls _love_ backhanded compliments!” Gloria finally retrieved a notebook and pen from her bag as class was about to start, eyes wandering as they tended to, towards Bede’s own notebook.

_Wednesday, October 23 – DB1 Lecture_

Gloria obnoxiously leaned over Bede with her pen, tongue poking out of her mouth as she began to mark up his paper.

“H-hey! What in the-?” Bede was bristling like a Liepard, elbowing Gloria away before she could ruin his blank page set aside for the hour’s note taking.

“Chill out, I’m just drawin’!” Gloria got in a few more pen strokes before her plan was foiled by the evil fairy spirit.

“What did you do- oh.” Bede looked down at the paper, expression blank as he saw what had been scribbled beside the heading of his page.

Two emoji-looking faces, one with a sweet, blushy smile and long hair, looking at what might have been one of the most cursed creatures in all existence. A cross between an angry Dubwool and an Impidimp who hadn’t slept in days, Bede somehow instantaneously recognized the caricature.

“I-is that supposed to be me?!” he remarked incredulously, not quite clear on which scribble he was referring to.

“Oh, no, the cute one is me. The one that just made its way out of the last circle of the Distortion World is you!”

Before Bede could further comment on Gloria’s artwork, their banter was interrupted by the professor, who had apparently started the lecture while they hadn’t noticed.

“Mr. Valentine, Ms. Evans. I expect you to start paying attention in this class, starting now.” Her remark caused the other students in the room to turn and gawk at the gym leader and Champion.

Bede’s face flushed a deep pink color, embarrassment radiating off of him in waves as he stared intensely at the floor. Gloria met the professor’s gaze evenly, though she sunk back into her seat a bit.

“Sorry, ma’am.”

“I expect better from such high-ranking members of the Galar League. Especially you, Ms. Evans.”

Murmurs of surprise rippled through the classroom, causing Gloria to also avert her gaze to the ground. She wondered why on earth this professor in particular was picking on them, especially using their surnames in such a formal manner. This wasn’t primary school!

“It won’t happen again.”

“It’d better not. Our Champion needs to set an example for the entire region.” The professor gave a final warning took to Gloria and Bede before returning back to the course content.

Gloria’s ears burned as she opened up her notebook, only just now jotting down the date on a blank page. She didn’t look over at Bede yet but could feel his discontent in the air around them.

After a few minutes of taking notes on the Plus and Minus abilities, Gloria leaned towards Bede, a question nagging at her mind that had been in the way of her focus.

“Mr. Valentine? I thought your last name was Rose.”

Bede didn’t turn his head to look at her, not wanting to get called out in front of the class again.

“Changed it before enrolling. Wouldn’t you do the same?” his voice was but half a whisper, the need to be quiet masking any emotion that would usually be present in his voice.

“I guess so, yeah… I like it. Methinks it’s quite cute.”

“Methinks you should pay attention, Evans.”

* * *

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Bede asked, sunlight from the floor-to-ceiling windows further softening his already concerned expression. He and Gloria tended to hang out for the twenty minutes between Doubles and her next class, today being no different, especially with how he’d noticed the Champion sulking all throughout the previous lecture. The two of them were seated together on one of the couches in the library many students referred to as the “Sunny Day”, as it was more of a lounge with especially nice natural lighting than a serious study place.

“I’m fine, but…” Gloria’s words trailed off, her eyes focused on something in the distance rather than her friend. “This whole Champion thing is really hard for me to deal with right now.”

Bede tried to follow her gaze to see what was so intriguing but found nothing, assuming she was simply avoiding eye contact.

“Um…” in all honesty, he didn’t know how to respond to her. “tell me more about that.”

Gloria blinked in silence for a moment, then finally turned her head towards him.

“Really?”

Bede instantly wondered if he’d done something wrong, anxiety constricting his chest like a Sandaconda’s wrap.

“Y-yes? I mean, if you want to, but I don’t-”

“Yeah, I want to. Thanks for asking.” Gloria shifted a bit closer to him but Bede instinctively leaned away from her.

“Losing to Leon and those other trainers in the past two weeks really fuckin’ blows,” she swore quietly, voice lacking its usual energy. “Everyone and their mum in Galar are talking about how me winning the Championship match must have been a fluke, but they don’t understand how different these battles are,” Gloria checked her watch before continuing, making sure she had enough time to spare before her next class. “and now everyone here thinks I’m a slacker, especially after that lecture.”

Bede collected his thoughts for a moment, not sure how to respond to such an outpouring of emotions from someone he’d only just started to acquaint himself with. He wanted to express how much he admired her, as Champion and as a colleague, but he didn’t quite know how to phrase it.

“Er… I kinda get what you mean. When Opal first dragged me to Ballonlea, I don’t think a single one of the gym trainers took me seriously. I was all over the place, honestly, I still am, and I had a really hard time adjusting to things.”

Gloria looked back up at him, her dark eyes reflecting the afternoon sun. Bede found himself giving into her closeness, the tension melting slightly from his shoulders as he finally leaned back in towards her.

“They expect you to be perfect. It’s the same way for gym leaders, and it was the same for Leon. We both know that he wasn’t and isn’t perfect, and I hate to admit it, but I fall a bit short myself.” Bede saw the shadow of a smile whisk across Gloria’s face, hoping he had finally said something right.

“I can’t believe you just said that.”

“Neither can I. It kind of hurt a little to admit that,” Bede smiled thinly at the floor before looking back up at Gloria more seriously. “but I think you should give up on this idea of being ‘perfect’. Even if you were perfect to some people, you still wouldn’t be perfect for everyone.”

“Yeah, I know… but everyone else’s flaws seem so minor when compared to mine.”

Bede couldn’t imagine what flaws she was referring to.

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” Gloria began, her posture drooping against the couch, “Leon can be a bit of an egotist, and lacks braincells in the ‘navigation’ region… but that didn’t matter. It didn’t affect how he did his job.”

“But did everyone like Leon?”

“Er… for the most part, yeah. But you know how tabloids could be. He didn’t let them get to him, though.”

“I think you found your answer, then. There’s nothing you can possibly do to make everyone like you.”

“It’s not just being liked, it’s being respected. I think… I think after looking up to Leon, a very masculine, mostly level-headed guy for so long, everyone thinks I’m just some weak little girl trying to make a statement or something.”

“You say ‘everyone’ is thinking that?”

“It feels like it sometimes. Like no one takes me seriously.”

The fairy-type gym leader followed Gloria’s statement with silence, collecting the right words and phrases he could use without giving too much of himself away. Last time he completely dropped his filter around someone, well…

“It’s natural that people who followed Leon for so long are skeptical of his replacement. But, like, you beat him. That’s all Leon did when he first got the title, he beat the last Champion. There’s no job application for it, you just… do it.”

“But they’re all comparing me to him.”

Bede had to resist the urge to grab Gloria by the shoulders and shout his next point straight into her face, but he resigned himself to merely raising his voice by a few decibels.

“You don’t think Leon was compared to the Champions who came before him? People liked him because he was always himself, flaws and all. You keep saying _they_ and _everyone_ like you know for sure what other people are thinking, but _I_ think you’re just projecting.”

“Projecting?”

“All these insecurities you’re going on about, that’s how you see yourself, and it shows.” _I know because I do the same thing._

“I-I’m not insecure!”

“I wouldn’t say that’s in your character, no, but there are definitely some insecurities rolling around in that skull of yours right about now.”

Gloria was once again avoiding eye contact, pretending she was focused on the pattern of the tiles below her feet.

“So… all this is in my head?”

“Most of it, yeah,” Bede couldn’t help the intensity of his feelings from peeking out behind his cool façade. “but I think you’re doing a great job so far, er, to be honest, I think that. You are.” he silently cursed at how the fragmented mess of a sentence sounded like someone trying not to fall down a flight of stairs, falling anyway due to their own fear knocking them off balance.

“Thanks… but it’s not like I’ve had to do very much yet. Preparations for next year’s gym challenge don’t start until January-”

“If you really care about how others perceive you, you’ll learn to take a compliment.” Bede interrupted, suddenly regretting his decision to cut off Gloria mid-sentence.

“I guess you’re right,” she conceded, to his surprise, “but everything I’ve done so far has been less than great.”

“Like what?”

“Setting a good example, like the professor said last class… and the whole Battle Tower thing. I just can’t get over it.”

“But aren’t you going back this weekend?”

Gloria didn’t answer.

“You aren’t then?” Bede’s voice was inquisitive, as Gloria had recently expressed to him how determined she was to go back and beat Leon no matter how many tries it took.

“I’m really behind on my schoolwork. If I’m already not being taken seriously in battles, I have to at least get good grades.”

“Your grades aren’t published in the newspaper, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Well, it’s not just that. Marnie is going to wait til the next season before challenging the Tower again and Hop has a lot of research to do this weekend. I really shouldn’t be heading up to Wyndon on my own.”

“Hm. I don’t want to take you away from your studies, but don’t you think those excuses are a bit weak?”

“Huh? You doing what?”

A cartoony exclamation point would have appeared over Bede’s head if he were in a comic strip. He didn’t even register what he’d just said out loud until Gloria pointed it out. Another flight of stairs, and gravity was feeling quite heavy that day…

“Well, maybe, if we work on your, uh, school stuff during the week and all that, er, what if I went with you?” Crash. How ungainly.

Gloria’s expression shifted from confused to contemplative as Bede had to keep himself from hiding his face with his hands. _I thought I’d be able to form a coherent sentence by the time I reached my twenties!_

“Yeah, I have some pretty shit excuses. I think I’m just letting my insecurity psych me out, just like you said.”

“So, yes?”

“Yes, I’ll try again this weekend.”

Gloria smiled plainly at Bede, catching him off guard by stopping her sentence so early.

“D-do you want me to come with?”

“Oh, yeah. I thought that was implied.”

* * *

“Meet me in the main library at 6?” Gloria suggested to Bede before she went into her next classroom with less than five minutes to spare.

“Sounds good. Not worried about other people today, then?”

“I still am, but you’ve made me want to get over that.”

“Hm. Good. Keep your voice down in this next class, you hear?”

“Yeah, I hear! You’re so loud no one in this lecture-” Gloria gestured to the hallway around them, “-can concentrate!”

Bede stifled a laugh before waving goodbye. Just as Gloria turned to race into the lecture hall, she was met with someone standing almost directly behind her.

“Oh!” Gloria took a step back as to not run into the person. “Hey, Hop. Sorry about that.”

Hop turned to walk into class before responding, Gloria hurriedly following him.

“No, _I’m_ sorry. I didn’t want to interrupt you and your _best bud_.”

The Champion’s mind felt like it was bending into a comic sans question mark at Hop’s uncharacteristic attitude. She sat next to him anyway, more concerned than anything.

“Mate, you okay?” she whispered just as the lecturer began speaking.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled flatly, not even turning his shoulders towards Gloria as he spoke. His gaze was straight-ahead as well, eyes like shards of steel. “Just stop talking and let me pay attention.”

* * *

_5:00pm_

Gloria laid on top of her unmade bed, scrolling through social media. She’d wanted to take a break before meeting up with Bede to study, but it wasn’t much of a mental break, as Hop’s silent treatment had continued throughout the rest of the day.

_I just really hope he’s okay…_

The Champion was about to comment on Nessa’s newest selfie when her phone began to ring in her hands.

_Zzt! Phone call from Gym Leader Raihan._

Gloria’s eyes narrowed to mere slits at the revelation.

_I swear… to Arceus…_

She answered with disgusted reluctance, remembering the condition she’d set with Raihan when it came to contacting each other.

“Hey. What’s wrong and why can’t you pay the ambulance this time?”

“Hi Gloria, and no, it’s not _that_ kind of emergency. I just need-”

“Running out of clean laundry isn’t an emergency.”

“Will you LET me TALK?! Listen to me. I needa go up to Wyndon this weekend. After talking with ya last week I figured I should really see Leon in person, and-”

“Hold on. Stop. You’re a gym leader, you’re an _adult._ What’s this have to do with me?”

“LET. ME. SPEAK!!! There’s a huge music festival in Wyndon this weekend, you should know that. Piers is headlining, you should know that too. So that means, if you just listen to me and THINK ABOUT IT, all the hotel rooms in the city are completely booked. The concertgoers and everyone taking on the Tower this weekend have completely taken over Wyndon.”

“Raihan. I know you’re impatient, but just wait for next weekend. It’s that simple. What could I even do about this situation anyway? I’m just the Champion, I can’t just kick someone out of a hotel room.”

“Well, I was thinking you could rent out the Champion Suite to me just this once-”

“Absolutely not. Plus, I’ve already booked it for myself from Friday through Sunday morning. I’m challenging the tower one last time this season.”

“Oh, come on! Please, just Friday night can I stay over? We don’t even have to share a bed, Gloria. Please just help me out here…”

Gloria shut her eyes tightly with annoyance before she could even respond.

“Both of the beds are already taken for this weekend, smartass. Why can’t you just wait for next week, aside from your own impatience? Tell me, why do you need my help so badly, other than the possibility of getting in my pants again, which will _absolutely_ not happen on this trip, for so many more reasons than I can even-“

“Because I need you to talk to him with me. We all have to talk, or there’ll just be more miscommunications. I know ya don’t believe me but I don’t like fighting with my best friends. Please, Glor. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

The Champion couldn’t deny the need for dialogue between the three league members. Plus, Raihan wouldn’t dare try anything, especially with Bede there as well.

_This had better not be something I regret, or else I’m resigning and never talking to Raihan ever again!_

“Fine. Train leaves at 3pm sharp on Friday, be there. We can’t and won’t wait around for you.”

“POGGERS! Thanks a zillion! You’re the best, really, I mean it. So, who’s comin’ with?”


	12. Extremespeed!

_Friday_

“Oh… Hi, Bede,” Marnie greeted cautiously as he and Gloria unceremoniously barged into the two girls’ room.

“Marnie,” Bede nodded coolly before turning to Gloria as she hurriedly threw some of her schoolbooks into the bag she was packing for the weekend. The two of them were caught up in their own whirlwind of conversation, speaking in low tones that Marnie couldn’t quite comprehend.  
“Hey, I think we… hurry.”

“Oh, we… more than enough…Trust me….”

“Don’t you… should… early?’

Marnie gave up on trying to understand their conversation and went back to the magazine she was reading while sitting in bed, turning up the volume on her headphones a few clicks.

_Knock knock knock!_

“Bede… that… me?”

“Yeah… got you.”

The fairy-type trainer quickly strode to the door and threw it open without checking through the peephole who’d been knocking.

“Hey, I was wondering if… YOU!” The voice from outside the door quickly escalated to anger, causing Gloria to leave her packing and take Bede’s place in the doorframe. She quickly forced herself between him and the visitor.

“Hop, what’s wrong?” she asked, a sense of urgency ringing in her voice.

“What’s _Bede_ doing in your room?”

Gloria cast an apologetic look to Bede who was just behind her, his usually lukewarm expression beginning to boil.

“Calm down, mate. We’re just getting ready to leave for the station and-”

“The station? You two? What is even going on?” Hop shouldered his was past the two of them, stomping across the floor and flopping down onto Gloria’s desk chair. He folded his arms across his chest, the accusation on his face plain as day.

“Oh, hi,” Marnie waved at Hop, taking off her headphones, “what’d I miss?”

Hop’s anger seemed to deflate a bit upon realizing Marnie was in the room too, but after quickly nodding toward her in greeting he continued to glare at the others.

“I’m accompanying Gloria to Wyndon this weekend. We’re challenging the Battle Tower,” Bede stated matter-of-factly, obviously suppressing a desire to fling curses at Hop in response to his rudeness.

“Let me handle this,” Gloria whispered to him, once again putting herself between her companion and Hop. “Also, I didn’t know you were gonna fight this weekend,” she added just as quietly.

“Well, you told _me_ you weren’t going this weekend,” Hop continued, his amber eyes flaring, “when was I supposed to find out about this?”

“It’s not a big deal, Hop. I figured I’d try one more time this season since I finished most of my homework that’s due next week, and I really need to go talk to Leon anyway.”

“And you asked _Bede_ to go with you instead of me?”

“You said you were busy this weekend!” she protested, Bede finally nudging her aside so he could talk to Hop himself.

“ _I_ was the one who asked her! And what gives you the right to talk to us like this? Gloria’s the Champion, you should show some respect!”

“She’s _my_ best friend! Who are you, her _boyfriend of the week?”_

The girl in question held back a gasp at Hop’s words, unable to process the full meaning of what he was saying.

“N-no, I’m _not!_ I don’t even know what you’re talking about…” Bede glanced back at Gloria uneasily, wondering if she had an idea of what Hop was insinuating. “…But we have to leave now or we’ll be late.” He pinned Hop with an icy glare before his final blow, “maybe if you were a better friend, she’d have told you all about this.”

Hop matched Bede’s death stare with equal fire, saying everything with his eyes before standing up and shoving his way out of the room.

Loaded silence filled the air after the door slammed shut, only interrupted after a solid minute of total awkwardness.

“What the hell was that?” Marnie asked, taking out both of her earbuds. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hop act that way.” she looked down at Gloria and Bede from her bed, afraid neither of them could give a sufficient answer.

“Neither have I…” Gloria pondered out loud as she threw her jacket over her shoulders and picked up her duffel, eyes glued to the floor.

“Bloody jerk… Is he really your ‘best friend?’” Bede muttered, watching Gloria with new apprehension.

“He has been, for a very long time. I can’t believe he said those things, I… I’m really worried about him.”

“Well, no matter what’s up he shouldn’t have treated you that way! Too bad he left before I could _really_ give him a piece of my mind…”

“Let’s not think about it right now. We really need to get going.”

* * *

“Hey, Gloria?”

“What?”

“If we keep at this Sliggoo’s pace I don’t think we’re going to make it in time.” Bede checked his watch with nervous energy as the pair quickly walked along the central streets of Hammerlocke. He was acutely aware of how much Gloria was struggling to keep up due to her shorter stature.

“Well,” she huffed indignantly, “do you have a better idea than walking?”

“I do, actually. Do you think you could tie your hair back?” Gloria retrieved the hair tie from her wrist and complied, not sure what her hair had to do with anything. Bede instantly retrieved a Poké ball from his backpack without even searching for it, releasing the Pokémon inside with one swift motion.

Out before them appeared a well-groomed Rapidash, its pastel colored mane fluttering in the wind.

“Good afternoon, Zelter.” The Pokémon’s trainer bowed before it, greeting the Rapidash as if it were a knight. “My confrère and I require your assistance. We’d like to travel to Hammerlocke Station.”

Zelter bowed his head in response, Bede running one of his hands through the Rapidash’s mane before hoisting himself up onto its back.

“You expect me to jump on like that?!” Gloria exclaimed, daunted by the sheer height of the Pokémon.

“If you can’t, I’ll help you.” Bede tapped a pattern against the back of Zelter’s neck, to which the Pokémon responded to by bowing its legs to aid in Gloria’s ascent. The gym leader then reached down to her with one arm, his eyes sparking with newfound excitement.

“Come on, then. You’ll be sitting up front.”

“Really? I’ve never- UWAHH!” Bede whisked her up onto the Pokémon with little effort, smiling contentedly as Zelter stood back up to full height. His hands gently found their way to the Rapidash’s thick mane, arms curling around Gloria’s waist in front of him for extra balance.

“Is this okay?” he asked, the question directed towards the girl but also to his Pokémon. Zelter clacked its diamond hooves against the pavement excitedly, impatiently waiting for Bede’s command.

“Y-yeah, I mean, I’ve only ever ridden a Mudsdale before, so this is-”

“Great! This’ll be an even smoother ride than you’re used to, then,” he patted Rapidash’s shoulder with encouragement, and they were off.

“W-woah, this is so fa-a-ast!” Gloria shouted, the wind whisking through her bangs. _Good thing I put my hair up!_

“Oh, dear, this is just a canter. We’ll make it in no time at this speed, but sometime soon I’ll have to take you for a gallop. Route 5 is the best place for it.”

“I don’t know if I can keep my balance!”

Bede awkwardly hugged her waist with his forearms, steadying her further as he spoke directly in her ear.

“Sit up straighter! Yes, just like that. And don’t let your legs go all floppy, you have to hold on, er, with your thighs. It’s a bit strange but it works. And you can hold onto Zelter’s mane, it won’t hurt him at all.” Bede kept an eye on Gloria as she adjusted accordingly, hoping to ease some of her apprehension. Although, she was right – she would’ve fallen off by now if it weren’t for Zelter’s fairy magic.

“I-I think I’ve got it…” Gloria stated between shaky breaths, leaning back slightly into Bede’s chest. For once, his confidence in this moment overrode his fear of closeness. She was short enough that he could see over the top of her head, but he wasn’t the tallest trainer around either, so he had to tilt his head a bit to the side.

“Yeah, that’s better. Think you could do this by yourself?”

“I don’t want to admit you’re better than me at something, but, no…”

“Of course I’m better. I do this all the time. Let’s go out to the Wild Area sometime.”

“O-okay!”

* * *

“There you are!” Raihan’s voice boomed throughout the waiting area at the station, drawing more attention than necessary towards him and the trainers he was calling to.

“Hi, Raihan,” Gloria’s greeting was airy and detached, keeping close to Bede’s side ever since they’d dismounted and withdrawn Zelter. The fairy-type leader didn’t know how he felt about her sudden increased proximity to him.

“Hey,” Raihan nodded, his tone a bit more reserved than usual. Bede noticed how Raihan’s shoulders were facing straight towards the Champion, but her own were angled in towards Bede, who nodded his own quick greeting.

“I can’t believe you beat us here.” Gloria mentioned, not looking at anyone or anything in particular. She and Bede followed Raihan to the seats where he’d been waiting and sat down.

“Neither can I. You two really cut it close.”

“We got caught up with something beforehand, it wasn’t her fault.” The strange sentence flopped out of Bede’s mouth like an Arrokuda dropped by a vegan Cramorant.

“Is that so?” Raihan’s eyes sparked with something unknown to Bede, but he could sense some sort of challenge in the other gym leader’s tone.

“Just had to smooth over a misunderstanding with some friends,” Gloria interjected, obviously not wanting to go into detail, “but, more importantly, I found out Bede is taking on the Battle Tower this weekend.”

“Really? Good for you, kid,” Raihan’s tone softened, but Bede couldn’t match his warmth. It seemed like there was an unspoken tension between the dragon trainer and Gloria, something she hadn’t felt the need to mention. _Also, I’m twenty. Who are you calling kid?_

“Mhm. Thought I could use some different training, it’s been a lot of the same old recently. And legitimately training during the week is pretty rare for me.”

“Me too,” Gloria added, holding her bag on her lap and hugging it for some reason, “I can’t wait til we start using the Stadium in our battle classes.” She looked up hopefully at Raihan as if he knew what she was talking about.

“Oh, yeah, the professors have reserved the gym for your guys’ classes, I think you’ll be starting next week.” _Obviously Raihan would know that, I guess her question wasn’t too unusual._

“Yep, that’s right,” she responded. “Bede and I are going to be doubles partners.” The Champion glanced over at the aforementioned gym leader, blinking softly.

_Uhhhhhh… that’s news to me,_ Bede wanted to say out loud, but he could tell she wanted him to roll with it.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it,” he added, forcing a slight smile.

“Aww, how cute,” Raihan’s tone was endearing but his intense eyes flickered with something darker. Even after Bede had spoken, the taller man’s gaze was laser-focused on Gloria.

“Well, you wanted me to find other training partners,” Gloria’s voice suddenly went flat, her eyes narrowing, “just the Champion and one of her gym leaders, nothing special.” It was as if her words were chosen extremely carefully for some subliminal purpose. Bede hoped it wasn’t a true reflection of how she felt about their friendship.

“Oh, yes, I know how that is,” Raihan stood up as their train’s arrival was announced over the station’s PA system. “Come on, then. I promised you I wouldn’t be late, so you’d better not be the ones to drag your feet.”


End file.
